290 NATURAL HISTORY OF BIRDS. 



were generally succeeded by the ascent of a cloud of birds, or the shrill piping of the 

 Bquirrel-monkeys ( (\tUithrix sciiirus), and the exultant scream of the wild huntress 

 from the dt-|iths of the forest. Then followed a ])ause, devoted to domestic duties, 

 during which the thanksgiving duet of the eaglets ascended from the cliffs, and very 

 soon after one or both jiarents reappeared in the ujiper air to resume the work of 

 destruction. ' The callow harpies, with their |)eudant crops, their misshapen, big heads, 

 and their preposterous claws, resemble endiryo demons or infantine chimeras, rather 

 than any creatures of nature; but they grow very rapidly, and their appetite during 

 tiie first si.\ months of their existence, is almost insatiable. 



" The Incas and Aztec noblemen trained harpy-eagles like falcons, and preferred 

 them to tame panthers, which were useil by jxit-hunters to capture deer and young 

 peccaries. Devega, the biograj)her of C'ortez, says that the satrap of a Me.vican 

 province presented the Great Captain with a hunting-eagle called El Hidalgo del aire, 

 the prince of the air, whose value was estimated at the i)rice of ten slaves; and adds, 

 that tlie only bodily injm-y which C'ortez ever received, during his adventures in Mex- 

 ico, was inflicted by this eagle," which, dying from a wound inflicted by Cortez in a 

 fit of passion, " before he resigned himself to death, raised his head once more, grabbed 

 the first finger of the right hand of his cruel master, and bit it through, — crushed it 

 completely, 'so as not to leave the world unavenged,' as Devega says." 



The range of this species is from southern Mexico southward over all the tropical 

 forests of America, — as far, at least, as Bolivia and southern Brazil. 



Turning now to birds which more nearly conform to our idea of buzzards, we may 

 mention the genus Urubitiiifja (in which we include JLcuco/Jtcrnis), a group jieculiar 

 to tropical America, whence about a dozen species are known. They are good-sized 

 buzzards, which at once suggest the Jiutcones by their size, proportions, and habits. 

 Among them are some very beautiful birds; for ex:imple, U. t/ltiesbreyliti of Mexico, 

 which is snowy white with the exception of wings and tail, which have bold markings 

 of deep black. U. aitthracina, the anthracite-buzzard of Cuba, Central America, and 

 southward, is the very opposite of this s]iecies as regards color, being deep Ijhick all 

 over, with the exception of a broad white band across the middle of the tail, and a 

 narrow white edging at its tip. This bird has been taken in Arizona. 



Other American genera, closely allied to tlu; foregoing, but which we have only 

 space to mention, are Asttiriita, Huteor/allas, Hiiteohi, and Utisarelliis, — this last being 

 remarkable for the long-hooked bill, as well as for having the soles of the feet thickly 

 studded with rough papillic or sjiicules in the manner of the osprey, — evident adapt.a- 

 tions for the better catching of fish, which constitute its ordinary food. Grulu'r's 

 buzzard {Onychotes yruhcri), is interesting, not only for its peculiarities of structure — 

 which leave it without near relatives among the buzzards — but because only two 

 Bj)ccimens have ever been discovered, both probably taken in California. "The elon- 

 gated legs, reaching considerably beyond the rather .short tail, the close thigh-j)lume8, 

 the long and extremely acute claws (somewhat like those of Hostrhamus,) with the 

 short, rouiuled, and very concave wing, are its most striking peculiarities." 



The genus ArchihiUco, consisting of only two s]>ecies, resembles the typical buz- 

 zards (JButeo) in nearly all ])oints but one, namely the feathering of the tarsi, for 

 tlu'se differ from those of all others of the sul>family, except Aqtiila, in being densely 

 feathered in front to the very base of the toes; the hinder aspect of the tai-sns, how- 

 ever, is entirely unfeathered. The wings are also pro))ortionally longer than in HicteOy 

 in this respect also resembling the genus A'julla. Both sj)ecie8 are found in North 



