VULTURES. 



~Z 



quite regardless of climate. Some of them are migratory, but 

 their migrations are probably caused in some measure by the 

 movements of the birds upon which they prey. 



An ingenious French writer (M. Huber) divides the Falconidai 

 into such as are birds of high flight and provided with wings that 

 propel them rapidly through the air by a kind of roiving move- 

 ment, and birds of low flight only capable of sailing in pursuit of 

 their prey. The wings of the first are slender, attenuated, and 

 not very convex ; the first ten quills are entire, and their barbs 

 touch each other without discontinuity along their entire length. 

 The movements of such wings are easy, rapid, and strong; accord- 

 ingly the "rowers" fly against the wind and raise themselves with- 

 out difficulty into the highest regions of the atmosphere, where 

 they sport in all directions. The wing of the "sailors" is thicker, 

 more massive and arched, and less stretched out in the act of 

 flying ; the first five quills are of unequal length, and taper from 

 the middle to the extremity. These birds, therefore, only fly 

 well with the wind, and seldom rise to any considerable height ; 

 in other words, they "hover:" their wings are kept extended and 

 motionless, and they are thus carried along by the force of the 

 breeze ; their flight is, in fact, strictly speaking, a sort of sailing 

 through the air. 



This family includes the Caracaras, the Buzzards, the Eagles, 

 the Falcons, the Kites, the Sparrow-Hawks, and the Harriers. 



Siib-Fainily I. 

 THE CARACARAS. POLYBORIN/E.H« 



General Characteristics. — Bill compressed at the sides, slightly hooked at the 

 tip, and the lateral margins slightly festooned ; wings long, with the third to the 

 fifth quills the longest ; tarsi long, slender, and covered with irregular scales ; toes 

 moderate, strongly scaled above, and all armed with strong acute claws. 



The birds composing this sub-family are all peculiar to the 

 warmer parts of South America and the adjacent islands. Their 

 flight is heavy and indolent, and they do not soar into the air, 

 but only fly from place to place. On the ground they are very 

 active, and run with great quickness, after the manner of the Gal- 

 linaceous birds. Their food consists of carrion, worms, larvae of 

 insects, and even the roots of plants ; while some frequent the 



* iroXv^opos, polyboros, viuch-dcvouring, voracious. 



