182 NORTH AxMERICAN BIRDS. 



throughout Central and Southern Chile. It was constantly met with along 

 the roads, and wherever there was a chance of obtaining a particle of flesh 

 or offal. At the annual slaughtering of cattle they congregate by hundreds, 

 and remain without the corral, awaiting their share of the rejected parts. It 

 was so tame, from not being molested, that it could be taken with the lasso, 

 hut when thus captured, it fights desperately, and no amount of attention 

 or kindness can reconcile it to the loss of liberty. 



Throughout South America it is one of the most abundant species, its 

 geogrnphical range extending even to Cape Horn. Mr. Darwin found the 

 Pobjhoras nowhere so common as on the grassy savannas of the La Plata, 

 and says that it is also found on the most desert plains of Patagonia, even 

 to the rocky and barren shores of the Pacific. 



Genus PANDION, Savigny. 



Pandion, Savign. 1809. (Type, Falco halketus, Linn.) 

 Triorchis, Leach, 1816. (Same type.) 

 Balhiisarclus, Fleming, 1828. (Same type.) 



Gen. Char. Bill inflated, the cere depressed below the arched culmen ; end of bill 

 much developed, ibrming a strong, pendent hook. Anterior edge of nostril touching edge 

 of the cere. Whole of tarsus and toes (except terminal joint) covered with rough, some- 

 what imbricated, projecting scales. Outer toe versatile ; all the claws of equal length. 

 In their shape, also, they are peculiar ; they contract in thickness to their lower side, where 

 they are much narrower than on top, as well as perfectly smooth and rounded ; the middle 

 claw has the usual sharp lateral ridge, but it is not very distinct. All the toes perfectly 

 free. Tibiae not plumed, but covered compactly with short feather.*, these reaching down 

 the front of the tarsus below the knee, and terminating in an angle. Primary coverts 

 hard, stiff, and acuminate, almost as much so as the quills themselves ; third quill longest ; 

 first longer than fiflh ; second, third, and fourth sinuated on outer webs ; outer three 

 deeply emarginated, the fourth sinuated, on inner webs. 



Of this remarkable genus, there appears to be but a single species, which 

 is almost completely cosmopolitan in its liabitat. As in the case of the 

 Peregrine Falcon and Barn Owl, different geographical regions have each a 

 peculiar race, modified by some climatic or local influence. These races, 

 however, are not well marked, and are consequently only definable with 

 great difliculty. 



Species and Baces. 



P. halieetus. Wing, 15.20-2L50; tail, 7.00- 11.11 ; culmen, 1.20-1.40; 

 tarsus, 2.00- 2.15 ; middle toe, l.GO-2.00. Second or third quills longest. 

 Above clear dark grayish-brown, inclining to brownish-black, plain, or 

 variegated with white. Tail brownish-gray (the inner webs almost entirely 

 white), narrowly tipped with white, and crossed by about six or seven 

 nearly equal bands of dusky-black. Head, neck, and entire lower parts, 

 snowy-white ; the breast with or without brown spots or wash. A dusky 

 stripe on side of head (fi'om lores across the ear-coverts), and top of head 

 more or less spotted, or streaked, with the same. Adult. Upper parts plain. 



