493. 
520 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS.— RAPTORES — ACCIPITRES. 
a small superorbital shield of a single bone. Ag@eautiful genus of a single species, related to 
the Old World Milvus (typical kites) and especially to Nauclerus, with which latter it has 
usually been associated. 
E. forfica/tus. (Lat. forficatus, deeply forked. Figs. 366, 367.) SWALLOW-TAILED KITE. 
Adult ¢@ 92: Head, neck, band on rnmp, and entire under parts, including lining of wings, snow- 
white; back, wings, and tail, glossy black, with various lustre, chiefly green and violet. Bill 
bluish-black ; cere, edges of mandibles, and feet pale bluish, the latter tinged with greenish ; 
claws light-colored. Length about 24.00, but very variable ; extent 50.00: wing 15.50-17.50 ; 
tail up to 14.50, cleft more than } its length; tarsus about 1.25; middle toe without claw 
rather less. Young: Similar; less lustrous; wing- and tail-feathers white-tipped; feathers of 
head and neck pencilled with delicate shaft lines of blackish. This most elegant kite, super- 
lative in ease and grace of the wing, floats, soars, and dashes over the greater part of America, 
and even crosses the Atlantic on its buoyant pinions. It is abundant in the Southern U. &., 
sometimes winging its way to the Middle States, and regularly up the whole Mississippi valley, 
to Minnesota and Dakota, latitude 49°. Known to nest from Wisconsin and Iowa southward. 
The nest is placed on a tree, constructed of sticks, hay, moss, ete.; eggs 4-6, whitish, 1.90 & 1.50, 
“55 
irregularly blotched and specked with rusty and chestnut-brown. 
44. Subfamily ACCIPITRINAE: Hawks. 
General form strict, with small head, shortened wings, 
and lengthened tail and legs. 'Tarsi approximately equal 
to the tibia in length. Bill short, robust, high at base ; 
toothless, but usually with a prominent festoon ; no cen- 
tral tubercle in the broadly oval nostril, nor keel of palate 
anteriorly. Superciliary shield prominent. Coracoid ar- 
rangement as in Buteonime, into which group the present 
one grades. Wings concavo-convex, the 3d to 6th quills 
longest, the lst very short and more or less bowed inward, 
the outer 3 to 5 emarginate or sinuate on inner webs. 
Tail quite long, square or rounded, sometimes emargi- 
nate, nearly equalling the wing in length. Tarsi slender, 
longer than middle toe without claw, usually extensively 
if not completely denuded of feathers, and scutellate 
before and behind. This is an extensive group of 
medium-sized and small hawks, little if at all inferior in 
F1G. 368.—A typical Accipitrine. (From spirit of audacity to the true falcons, though less power- 
Dixon.) fully organized and in fact conforming in anatomical 
characters with the Buteonine rather than with the Falconine. In the technic of falconry, 
the Accipitrine are styled ‘“‘ignoble,” because these short-winged hawks rake after the quarry, 
instead of plunging upon it like the ‘‘ noble” long-winged falcons. Their flight is swift and 
dashing; they capture their prey in open chase with amazing celerity and address, always 
killing for themselves and disdaining refuse. Their quarry is chiefly birds and quadrupeds. 
Astur and Accipiter are the typical and principal genera, of which some 50 species (chiefly of 
the former genus) are known, inhabiting most parts of the world. Our representatives of 
these genera are easily discriminated, but some exotic species connect them quite closely. 
An@lysis of Genera. 
Small and medium-sized; length 20.00 or less. Tarsus more extensively denuded, and scutellate, some- 
BITIESDOOUEM Tet Meters) Stee oe, oes aletom tel uieieh al. (eee CRC RE las Accipiter 176 
Large; length over 20 00. Tarsus less extensively denuded, and scutellate, never booted . . . Astur 117 
