SYSTEMATIC AERAN"GEMENT 



OF 



THE GENEEA OF BEITI'SH BIEDS. 



Class. A VES. 

 Order I. ACGTPITRES. 



(Birds of Prey.) 



Beak strong, crooked, witli the point acute and curving down- 

 ward, and the edges sharp ; the base enveloped in a naked skin 

 (called the cere) in which the nostrils are placed ; feet muscular ; 

 toes armed with powerful talons, long, curved and pointed, of which 

 those of the hind and innermost toes are the strongest ; wings 

 adapted for vigorous, lofty, and long-sustained flight. 



Family I. A^ulturid^. 



(vultures. ) 



Beak somewhat lengthened, upper mandible nearly straight, 

 curved at the point only ; head and neck in a greater or less degree 

 naked, or clothed only with a thin down ; talons comparatively 

 weak. Food, exclusively the flesh of dead animals. 



Genus 1. Vultur (Vulture). Beak robust, its base covered 

 with a cere ; head and neck naked or downy ; nostrils at the base 

 of the beak, oblique ; feet very strong; wings long, first c[uill short, 

 fourth the longest. Page 1. 



2. ^N'eophron (Vulture). Beak slender, long, its base and more 

 than its lower half covered with a cere ; head and neck partly bare 

 of feathers : nostrils near the middle of the beak, longitudinal ; feet 

 moderately strong ; wings long, the third quill the longest. 



Page 3. 

 Family 11. Falconid^. 



(falcons.) 



Beak hooked, generally furnished with a sharp projection or tooth 

 on each side ; head wholly clothed with feathers, except the cere ; 

 nostrils more or less rounded, and pierced in the sides of the cere ; 

 feet strong, and armed with curved, retractile, sharp talons. Food, 

 living animals, insects, and carrion. 



Sub-Family I. Aquilince. 



Beak stout, convex or slightly angular above, straight at the 



