288 



NATURAL III STORY OF BIRDS. 



and monkeys or foxes which in their death-slriig<;le snap at what they mistake for the 

 throat of their captor, shut their fangs upon a mass of elastic down, whieh baffles 

 their efforts till the grij. of the iltnlrttctor closes upon their own throats. 



"The harpy can overtake ilie swiftest birds of the troj.ical woods, and in spite of 

 its size steers its way through the labyrinth of forest trees and hanging vines with 



Fio. 135. — Thrusalltu harpyta, hurpy-caglc. 



amazin"' skill, and rarely fails to rise with a pheasant, a woodcock, or a small mammal 

 in its claws, after plunging like a meteor from the clouds into the leafy maze of the 

 ticrra adiente." 



When adidt, its general color above is gray, while the head and neck all round, as 

 well as the entire un(lcr])arts, are white, c.vccjitiiig the long crest feather.s, and an 

 indistinct chest-band, which inclines to gray. The tail-feathers are brown, crossed 



