lV FALCONIFORMES: CATHARTIDAE 137, 
from Central Madagascar, found at a depth of twelve to fifteen 
feet with another species Chenalopex sirabensis.' 
Order VII. FALCONIFORMES. 
Next to the aquatic Anseriformes may be placed the large 
and important terrestrial Order Falconiformes, with its Sub-Orders 
CATHARTAE and ACCIPITRES. The former contains the New- 
World Vultures (Cathartidae or Sarcorhamphidae), possessing 
striking differences of structure from their allies;* the latter, the 
Secretary-Bird (Serpentariidae), the Old-World Vultures (Vul- 
turidae), the Carrion-Hawks, Hawks, Eagles, Falcons and their kin 
(Falconidae), and the Ospreys (Pandionidae). All agree in the 
strong “raptorial” bill with basal cere, the U-shaped furcula, the 
large crop, the carnivorous habits, the great powers of flight, 
the superior size of the female, and the long nest-occupation of 
the young; but the Cathartae differ in having pervious nostrils, 
no syringeal muscles, less flattened metatarsi, and so forth. 
Fam. I. Cathartidae.—These Vultures range from tropical to 
temperate America, and are often of immense size; the bill is 
strong, hooked, but blunt; the feet are clumsy with small scales; the 
scutellated toes, of which the mid-digit is longest and the hallux 
somewhat elevated, are unfit for grasping; the claws are obtuse 
and little curved. The ample wings have eleven primaries and 
from twelve to twenty-five secondaries ; the moderate tail is even 
or rounded, with twelve rectrices, or fourteen in Pseudogryphus. 
The head and long neck are commonly bare, but the latter may be 
covered with stubbly down, which in Gyparchus papa extends to 
the occiput; the naked skin is often brightly coloured and accom- 
panied by caruncles, while the crop is bare in Sarcorhamphus and 
Gyparchus. The eyes are prominent, the cere is horny and some- 
times very long, the tongue thick and fleshy, the aftershaft absent. 
The sexes are alike in plumage, with evenly distributed down, 
and the nestlings soon develop a white or rufous covering. 
Though, generally speaking, predaceous, the members of this 
Family only attack disabled animals, or often act chiefly as 
scavengers, whence the smaller forms are commonly found near 
the abodes of man and even in towns. The larger species sail 
high above the earth with easy, long-sustained, and majestic flight, 
1 Andrews, Jbis, 1897, pp. 344-355. 2 Huxley, P.Z.S. 1867, pp. 463-464. 
