278 NATURAL HISTORY OF BIRDS. 



tries 8uiTounflin<i the Mediterranean and Ked seas, as well as througlioiit Africa and 

 in northuestuni Iiuli;!. Owing to its very light color it is fre(iuently called the white- 

 vulture; in Africa the Dutch colonists call it the white-crow, an<l, as it frequently 

 figures in the hieroglyphs of Egypt, it is also known as 'Pharaoh's chicken.' Wher- 

 ever it is abundant its usefulness as a scavenger is recognized, and it is carefully pro- 

 tected by law as well as freijucntly by superstition, so that in nearly all the cities and 

 towns of southeastern Europe, and in fact wherever it is found in tolerable abundance, 

 it is one of the most familiar objects in the streets, and a group of them may often be 

 seen wrantrlinr; for some scrap of offal among the very feet of the horses and camels 

 of a market-place. With the giffons and several other species, it is a never-failing 

 attendant on the deserted battle-field, and, with the help of the jackal and hyena, 

 desecrates many a lonely cemetery. According to Mr. F. G. C. Taylor, in and about 

 Constantinople it is very abundant, sitting on the roofs of the houses, and breeding on 

 the ruined walls and towers of Stamboul. The eggs, three or lour in number, and 

 unlike those of other Old World vultures (e.\ce|)t TT moiiac/iiis), are strongly blotched 

 with brown and reil, the m.irkings often completely obscuring the ground color. The 

 young birds are of a blackish brown color, after the first year becoming more yellowish, 

 but not assuming the final plumage of the adult — mostly white, with the large 

 feathers of the wing black — until the third year. It is stated that the bill of the 

 male, -which is ordinarily yellow, deepens in color to a clear orange during the breeding 

 season. 



The transition from the vultures to the eagles and buzzards is a natural and not 

 very .abrupt one, when we consider that at least two of the genera which we now 

 take up have been .sometimes included in one group and sometimes in the other, 

 according to the fancy or conviction of the author handling the subject. 



Under the bead of Afjuilinse, we )iroj)ose to consider those forms which are com- 

 monly j)laced in two se])arate grou])s, the Aquilinte or eagles, and the Buteoninte or 

 buzzards. Our reason for this is simjWy that the two groups are not fairly separable; 

 that while markeil difTerences aside from size undoubtedly exist between a golden- 

 e.agle (Aquila), and a 'hen-hawk' {Jiulei)), and even between small groups of which 

 these two are typical members, yet in the iiresence of the vast number of forms which 

 are admitted to be very closely related, but which cannot come into either group so 

 long as the groups themselves are separated, we cannot do less than merge the two in 

 one and include all the most nearly related forms. The trouble is, however, that 

 having done this, having opened our doors to these homeless robbers, we are in a fair 

 way to be looked upon as an asylum for discontents, or rather for those semi-orphans 

 whose ))arentage we may inilecd know, but wliose ancestry is as yet involved in 

 obscurity. Thus the harriei-s will be wanting to come in ne.\t, then some of the kites, and 

 perhaps all of the hawks. Under these circumstances, the only thing to do would be 

 to give each ajiplicant a rigid examination and admit him if jiossible. But at le.ist let 

 us quarantine the carrion-buzzards (Polyborintc) as long as possible, and especially 

 let us be careful not to add insult to injury in the ca.se of the osprcy by forcing him 

 into any closer relations with a grou]) the very name of which must always call u]) 

 painful recollections. 



But to return to facts: the Aquiline group which we have introduced may be in ' 

 general negatively characterized as follows. Bill not toothed as in the falcons, the 

 cutting edge of upjier mandible even or sinuate; face without the imperfect disk of 

 the harriers; the bony shield over the eye usually ])roniinent; legs and feet heavier 



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