SYSTEMATIC AKKANGEMENT 



OF 



THE GENERA OF BBITISH BIRDS, 



CLASS. A VES. 

 Order I. ACCIPITREb. 



(BIRDS OF PREY.) 



Beak strong, crooked, with 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. VULTURID^. 



(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 quill short, 

 fourth the longest. Page 1. 



2. NEOPHRON (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 II. 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 



