INTRODUCTION. XXUI 



Order ACCIPITRES. 



Family VULTURID.E. 



Gyps, Savigny. — Bill strong, thick, and deep, the sides rather swollen, 

 maxilla rising immediately in front of the cere, forming a culmen curving to 

 the tip, where it is somewhat abruptly hooked. Mandible straight and 

 rounded, becoming narrower towards the point. Nostrils naked and diagonal. 

 Tongue fringed with spines. Head slender and covered with short down, 

 as is most part of the neck ; above the shoulders a ruff of elongated feathers. 

 Wings long ; the first quill short, the fourth the longest. Tail of twelve or 

 fourteen feathers. Feet strong ; claws slightly hooked ; middle toe rather 

 longer than tarsus, and united at base to outer toe by a membrane (p. 301). 



Neophron, Savigny. — Bill straight, slender, elongated, rounded above, 

 encircled at the base with a naked cere, which extends more than half the 

 length of the beak ; upper mandible with straight edges, hooked at the tip ; 

 under mandible blunt, and shorter than the upper. Nostrils near the 

 middle of the beak, elongated, longitudinal. Head and neck partly bare of 

 feathers. Wings rather pointed, the third quill the longest. Tail of 

 fourteen feathers. Legs of moderate strength and length ; tarsi reticulated ; 

 feet with four toes— three before, one behind ; anterior toes united at the 

 base (p. 303). 



Family FALCONID.F. 



Circus, Lacepide. — Bill small, bending from the base, compressed and elevated; 

 cutting edge of the upper mandible with a slight festoon. Cere large. 

 Nostrils oval, partly concealed by the hairs radiating from the lores. Lower 

 part of the head surrounded by a ruff of small thick-set feathers. Wings 

 long ; the first quill very short, the third and fourth the longest. Tail long. 

 Tarsi long, slender, and naked ; toes rather short, and not very unequal ; 

 claws slightly curved, and very sharp (p. 305). 



BuTEO, LacepMe. — Bill rather small and weak, bending from the base, part of 

 the cutting edge of the upper mandible slightly projecting; cere large; 

 nostrils oval. Wings ample ; the first quill short, about equal in length to 

 the seventh, the fourth the longest ; the first four feathers with the inner 

 edge deeply notched. Tarsi short, strong, scaled, and occasionally feathered ; 

 toes short, claws strong (p. 311). 



Aquila, Biisson. — Bill strong, of moderate length, curved from the cere, 

 pointed, the cutting edges nearly straight. Nostrils oval, lateral, directed 

 obliquely downward and backward, or circular. Wings large and long, the 

 fourth quill the longest. Tarsi feathered to the junction of the toes ; feet 

 strong, the last phalanx of each toe covered by large scales ; claws hooked 

 (P- 315)- 



Haliaetus, Savig7iy. — Bill elongated, strong, straight at the base, curving in a 

 regular arc in advance of the cere to the tip and forming a deep hook, 

 upper ridge broad and rather flattened, edges of the maxilla slightly pro- 

 minent behind the commencement of the hook. Nostrils large, transverse, 

 lunate. Wings ample, the fourth quill the longest. Tarsi half feathered ; 

 the front of the naked part scutellated, and the sides and back reticulated. 

 Toes divided to their origin, the outer one versatile. Claws strong and 

 hooked, grooved beneath ; the claw of the hind toe larger than that of 

 the inner, which again exceeds either of the others (p. 319). 



