106 



A Description of the Birds 



the feathers being more or less distinctly, an obscure cinereous 

 black, and the edges clear black, the shafts white. Primary 

 and secondary quill feather, together with the tail, more or 

 less grayish ; throat, breast, belly, and thighs clear or dull 

 rufous ; toes somewhat granulated, and dusky black. Length 

 about three feet. 



Young. — Head and neck brownish black ; upper parts gray- 

 ish brown with blotches of dirty White ; the anterior part'of the 

 back with large white blotches ; the scapulars and wing coverts 

 blackish with lighter colored spots ; the quill feathers brown- 

 ish black ; iris brown ; feet livid. — (Temmink.) 



This bird is found, though scantily, in most pai'ts of South 

 Africa, and is seldom seen in company either with those 

 of its own species or of any other genus. It frequently resorts 

 to spots where carrion occurs, and feeds upon it ; and it often 

 also, according to the statements of the inhabitants, attacks 

 and kills the smaller quadrupeds. 



Fam. Falconid^e. 



Caput plumosum < ; ant partim demtdatum, rostrum forte, 

 aduncum, basi cerigerum; nares laterales, in ceromate positcc, 

 plus aut minus rotundatce, aperto? ; digiti externi prcecipuh 

 mediis connexi, ungues validi, acutissimi, maxime inatrvi, 

 retractiles. 



Head clothed with feathers or partially naked ; beak strong, 

 bent down, and furnished with a cere; nostrils lateral, placed 

 in the cere, more or less rounded, and open ; outer toes chiefly 

 connected with the middle one ; claws stout, very acute, much 



incurved, and retractile. 



,* 



Stirps— AQUILINA. (EAGLES.) 



Rostrum longum ad apicem solum aduncum ; remex quarto, 

 prcecipue longissima. 



Beak long, hooked at the tip only ; the fourth quill feather 

 usually longest. 



Gen 



us. 



POLYBOROIDES. Mihi. 



Rostrum cojupressum prceci- 

 pue versus cu/men, mother un 

 cinutmn. Nares longitudinales 

 et angustee, ceroma Icp.ve; la- 

 ttra capitis ante, et partmn 

 eiiam post oculos denudata. 

 Tarsi longi gracilis et reticu- 

 lati ; ungues compressi aculi , 

 etnex lotigissitiiU. 



Bill compressed, particular- 

 ly towards fiulmen ; moderately 

 hooked ; nostrils longitudinal 

 and narrow ; ceroma smooth ; 

 sides of head to some little 

 distance behind eyes bare. 

 Tarsi long, slender, and reti- 

 culated ; claws compressed and 



i acute ; fourth quill feather tht 



i longest. 



