MAMMALOGY AND ORNITHOLOGY. 279 



injurious. In the AquUincB are placed our eagles, of wliich the golden eagle, 

 (Aquila canadensis, Cassin,) the bald or Avhite-headed eagle, fHalicetus Jcuco- 

 yhalus, Savigny,) and the fish hawk or osprey, fPandion carolinensis, Bon.,) 

 are well known. The golden eagle is not abundant in this country. Its food 

 consists principally of the larger Rodentia and birds. It seldom eats carrion, 

 but prefers to capture its own prey. The white-headed eagle subsists almost , 

 entirely upon fish, which it robs from the osprey, or finds cast upon the shore. 

 It also destroys some of the larger birds and mammals. The osprey is of no 

 importance, economically speaking, to agriculture, as its food consists entirely 

 of fish, which it captures while on the wing by diving into the water and 

 clutching it with its talons. 



We find, therefore, that the diurnal birds of prey are not beneficial, or are in- 

 jurious, with but two or three exceptions, namely, the swallow-tailed hawk, 

 marsh hawk, and osprey. The first and last of these species are well known 

 and require no description here, and that the marsh hawk may be recognized by 

 the farmer, I have thought it proper to give the following brief unscientific 

 description : The adult bird is of a cinereous blue color above, and on the 

 head and breast beneath, and the upper tail coverts, white ; there are numer- 

 ous spots of reddish brown on the feathers of the abdomen. This description 

 is necessarily general, as the object is to secure the identification of the bird 

 while in the air. It may also be known by its frequenting the marshes almost 

 entirely, a habit none of our other hawks have that could possibly be mistaken 

 for this species. 



The young birds in .the plumage of the first or second year will be much 

 more difficult to identify. They are of a dark brown above, except the upper 

 tail coverts, toliich are ichite. The knowledge of this fact will be of material 

 assistance in the identification of the bird, as this white patch on the rump 

 shows plainly in the young and old birds while in the air. 



Our nocturnal birds of prey, or Strigidce, are divided into several well- 

 marked sub-families. It is not necessary in this paper to refer to their peculiar 

 characteristics, as they are all beneficial, some of them greatly so. These sub- 

 families are called the Strigino;, of which the barn owl, Strix 'pratincola, 

 (Bonap.,) so well known in the southern States, is the type; the Buhonincey 

 (horned owls,) of which the great horned owl. Bubo virginianus, (Bon.,) is well 

 known over the entire continent; the Sy mince, (gray owls,) of which the great 

 cinereous owl, Syrnium cineretim, (Aud., ) is the typical representative ; the 

 AthenincB, in which are included our different burrowing owls ; and the 

 Nycteinince, (day owls,) of which the snowy owl, Kyctea nivca, (Daudin,) is a 

 familiar representative. 



The food of owls consists almost entirely of rats, mice, and field-mice, 

 ArvicolincS: Many of the smaller species destroy multitudes of nocturnal in- 

 sects, (chiefly Lejndoptera,) and but few of the birds are destroyed, compara- 

 tively, by any of the species. Those that are most diurnal in habits partake 

 somewhat of the nature of the hawks, and kill birds which they pursue and 

 capture while on the wing. But the little injury done by these is but trifling 

 when compared with the benefits they are constantly doing by destroying the 

 noxious animals, which, as I have already said, constitute the great portion of 

 their food. 



SCANSORES. 



The birds of this order, gi-eatly dissimilar in characteristics and form, are 

 readily distinguished by the peculiar formation of their feet, which have two 

 toes in front, and almost always two behind, (a few exceptional cases have but 

 one behind.) This arrangement is admirably adapted to enable these birds to 

 climb trees, to which their habits are nearly confined, and in which they usually 

 seek their food, which consists in the different families of insects, fruits, and 



