IV FALCONIDAE 153 
more terrestrial, and chiefly frequents grassy plains; it is moreover 
less energetic, and has an easy and loitering though protracted flight, 
with a custom of uttering its whistling or mournful notes in chorus, 
the head being thrown back as in the Carancho. The nest of 
sticks, lined with grass, hair, and wool, may be on trees, in grass, or 
rushes, Senex preferring sea-girt cliffs ; the eggs, from two to five in 
number, are cream-coloured, or reddish with darker markings, and 
vary as in Polyborus. Human beings are very rarely molested 
by “Carrion Hawks,” though birds seem to fear them greatly. 
Sub-fam. 3. Accipitrinae.—F ist of this group may be placed six 
genera of “ Harrier-Eagles,” classed as Circaétinae by the late J. 
H. Gurney,! of which Herpetotheres cachinnans, ranging from South 
Mexico to Bolivia and Paraguay, is the only American represent- 
ative. It is a crested bird, of a brown colour above, relieved by 
creamy buff, which extends over the whole under surface, the nape 
and face being mostly black. It eats snakes, and sits aloft bob- 
bing its head while uttering a gruff “ha-ha.” Of the African genus 
Circactus one species, C. gallicus—Jean-le-blane of the French— 
extends from Southern and Central Europe to Palestine, India, 
North China, Timor, and Flores. It is dark brown above, and 
white with blackish-brown streaks and bars below, the secondaries 
and tail having white tips, and the latter three dusky cross-bands. 
This sluggish but bold denizen of the plains may be seen perched 
on trees, quartering the ground with heavy flapping flight, or 
anon poising itself aloft on motionless wings, the harsh noisy cry 
being varied by a twittermg note. Snakes form its favourite 
food, while frogs and fish from the shallows, small mammals, birds, 
lizards, crabs, and insects add to its daily fare. Tue bulky nest of 
sticks, bedded with grass or green leaves, is situated on trees, bushes, 
or even rocky ledges; a single bluish-white egg—or exceptionally 
two—heing, deposited. The female sits very closely, and both 
parents sometimes attack intruders. C. cinereus, of most of the 
Ethiopian Region, has the chest brownish-black and the belly 
white; C. fasciolatus of Natal, and the similar C. beaudouini of 
Senegal and North-East Africa, have the former part fulvous-brown, 
and the latter barred with dusky; C. cinerascens of the east and 
west of that continent is much greyer below, with narrower bars. 
Flelotarsus ecaudatus of the whole Ethiopian Region is black, with 
maroon back and tail, and a broad grey band across the second- 
1 A list of the Diurnal Birds of Prey, 1884, pp. 14-18. 
