THE EAGLE-LIKE SUBFAMILY 



2OII 



Falkland 

 Island 

 Caracara 



species (P. lutosus} characterizes the island of Guadeloupe. Although largely 

 carrion eaters, these birds will attack living prey, the Brazilian species some- 

 times venturing to encounter the 

 skunk. In North America they 

 generally nest in cabbage palms. 

 This species 

 {Ibycter australis}, 

 which is repre- 

 sented in the upper 

 figure of our illustration, may 

 be taken as a well-known ex- 

 ample of the second genus, in 

 which the nostrils are circular, 

 and most of the species of con- 

 siderably smaller dimensions 

 than the last. This bird attains 

 a total length of twenty-five 

 inches, and has its plumage of 

 a general black hue. The nape 

 and neck are, however, marked 

 with streaks of white, and there 

 are also similar white markings 

 on the throat and chest, which 

 on the abdomen pass into minute 



spots. The quills are dark brown, with lighter tips, and the black tail has a broad 

 white band at the end. The feathers on the inner surfaces of the thighs are tawny, 

 the cere and feet are yellow, the greater part of the beak is yellowish, and the iris 

 "brown. This species is restricted to the Falkland islands, and is replaced in the 

 Amazon districts and some adjacent parts of South America by the black caracara 

 (I. ater), which is a much smaller bird, measuring only sixteen inches in length, and 

 characterized by the whole plumage, with the exception of a white band across the 

 base of the tail, being black, with greenish reflections. Agreeing in size with the 

 black caracara is the very differently-colored bird known as the chimachima (/. 

 chimachima), of which an immature example is represented in the lower figure of 

 our illustration. This caracara ranges from Brazil northward of the tropic, through 

 Colombia into Panama. In the adult the prevailing color may be said to be white; 

 a streak from the eye toward the back of the head, the back, wings, and tail being 

 mainly dark brown, with lighter margins to many of the feathers. The first four 

 primary quills are white with dark markings in the middle of their length, while 

 the remainder are yellowish white at the base, with dark brown tips. The tail 

 feathers have a lightish ground, marked with narrow brown bars for the greater 

 part of their length, but near the end show a broad blackish band tipped with 

 white. The iris of the large eye is grayish brown; the beak is bluish white at the 

 base, becoming lighter at the tip; the cere and a bare space round the eye are orange 

 tinged with red, and the feet are pale yellow. In young birds the top of the head 



BRAZILIAN CARACARA. 



