63 



The Trumpetei's {Psophieh) stand alone, being the most Galline of all 

 the Crane-like birds. The peculiar Mesites of Madagascar also requires 

 to be kept apart, as also the Sun-Bittern (Eurypyga) and the Kagu {Rhi- 

 nochetus) of New Caledonia. All these are probably isolated survivors of 

 Heron -like Cranes, of which the bulk have perished from the earth. 



One of the most puzzling forms to locate naturally is the Cariama or 

 Seriema, which I make to stand alone as the representative of the group 

 DichoIopJii. It has an outward resemblance to the Secretary-bird 

 {Serpent arius) of South Africa, but has characters which, according to 

 Seebohm, make it a Ralline bird, while Stejueger and others con- 

 sider it to be Gruine. I place it as an independent form between the 

 Cranes and the Accipitres, to which it apparently leads by way of 

 Seipentarius. 



My friend, Mr. Howard Saunders, carefully watched the habits of 

 the Cariama when it was living in the Zoological Gardens. The curious 

 way in which the Secretary-bird pounds a rat to pieces by jumping on 

 it is shared by the Cariama. On the other hand, the latter roosts like 

 a Game-bird, or a Bustard, with its feet folded under it, and not like a 

 Hawk. 



The Secretary-bird must also be admitted as a peculiar Accipitrine 

 form, connected with the general body of Hawks by the Caracaras 

 {Poli/bori) ; and it is doubtful whether we ought not to separate the 

 Old-World Vultures as a distinct group. As, however, no one has 

 found osteological or other characters of sufficient value for this 

 '' divorce,^^ I still keep them with the other Accipitres, though their 

 external appearance and habits go far to warrant their '^ judicial separa- 

 tion.^' They at least would require recognition as a distinct body of 

 Birds of Prey in a separately mounted group, which should display 

 their nesting-habits and carrion-loving propensities. After admitting 

 that it would have been better in 1874, when I wrote my first volume of 

 the ' Catalogue of Birds,' to have taken more heed of Huxley's wise 

 separation of the New-World Vultures and the Secretary-bird as dis- 

 tinct groups, I have seen no reason to modify the rest of my classifica- 

 tion of the Accipitres. The most Vulture-like of all the Hawks are the 

 Pohjborinee, and from them to the Long-legged Hawks and Harriers 

 {Accipitrina) is an easy transition. The Buzzards and Eagles form 

 another tolerably well-defined congeries of genera, and from them to the 

 Kites and thence to the true Falcons by way of Baza and Pernis does 

 not seem to me in any ways difficult. 



I still maintain the correctness of my opinion that the Ospreys are 

 not Eagles at all, but represent an intermediate group between the 

 Accipitres and the Striges. Their skeleton is in many respects Owl- 

 like, and they have other characters in which they resemble the Sti'iges ; 

 but as their habits are those of a Fishing-Eagle and the egg is coloured 



