717 



FALCONID^E. 



FALCONTD^E. 



718 



with deeper brown ; belly white ; tail gray, barred with white 

 beneath ; feet ash-coloured. It is a native of Cayenne. 



Jl'acl :md fool of Cymin i$ Cayenn-nril. 



Atlnrina (Vieillot). Beak convex above; nostrils lunulatc; tarsi 

 short, somewhat slender ; claws long, very acute. 



A. cinerea. Bluish n*h-colmir; whitish bands on the under part 

 of the body ; tail traversed by two black stripes, white at the point ; 

 beak blue below ; cere blue ; feet yellow. It is a native of Guyana. 



Head and foot of Aiturina ciurrrn. 



Mr. Vigon obeerves, that it !H among these Short-Winged Eagles 

 that the greatest difficulty prevails in deciding on their immediate 

 affinities. Being for the most part extra-European, and not within 

 the reach of general examination, their manners also being but 



ittle noted, and the characters on which we depend for forming our 

 decision respecting their affinities being for the most part passed 

 over in the descriptions given of them, it is only by conjecture that 

 we can assign them a place in the general arrangement. Of this 

 nature, he remarks, is the genus last described. The same difficulty, 

 le adds, extends to several other described species of the Falconida:, 

 which appear to him to belong to the group of Short-Winged Eagles, 

 although they have been assigned a different locality by the authors 

 who have described them. Among these is the Falco Bacha of 

 Daudin, which has been generally ranked with the Buzzards. Its 

 short wings aud lengthened bill however seem, according to Mr. 

 Vigors, to bring it among the present group of the Eagles ; and its 

 habits, as described to him by Dr. Horsfield, who had an opportunity 

 of closely observing them in the Island of Java, where the birds 

 are by no means uncommon, do not in any respect correspond witli 

 the Buzzard tribe. Mr. Vigors would place it, together with P. 

 albidus of Cuvier, near those species of the genus Oymindit which 

 are distinguished by the reticulated aerotarsia, if not in that genus 

 itself. He has indeed some doubts whether most of the Short-Winged 

 Falconida at present placed among the Buzzards, such as F. buson 

 and F. tachiro of Daudin, F. pascilonotus of Cuvier, &c., may not be 

 more properly removed to a situation betweeu the Short-Winged 

 Eagles and the Hawks, with both of which they seem to have a 

 considerable affinity. There is, continues Mr. Vigors, another group 

 which also appears allied to the present, distinguished by a rather 

 feeble and elongated bill, short wiugs, and slender lengthened tarsi, 

 feathered to the toes. It includes F. limncectus of Horsfield (' Zool. 

 Res.,' No. 6), /'. nircut of Temmiuck (PI. Col. 127), and F. atricapilltii 

 of Cuvier (PI. Col. 79). These appear to be strongly allied, in the 

 opinion of Mr. Vigors, if not to appertain, to the before-mentioned 

 ;enus Morphnus. F. tyrannut of Prince Maximilian (PI. Col. 73) 

 bears also, Mr. Vigors thinks, a strong similitude to the same group, 

 though partially differing in external characters. 



2nd Sub-Family Aecipitrina (Hawks). 

 Beak short, hooked from the base ; wings short, fourth quill longest. 



Head and foot of Dadalion cachiimans. 



" The short wings of the last groups," writes Mr. Vigors, " lead 

 us to the present division of Hawks, all of which, a considerably 

 extensive tribe, are characterised by their wings extending no 

 further than two-thirds of the extent of their tail. The fourth quill- 

 feather is the longest, the first, second, and third gradually exceeding 

 each other in length. In this division we may observe that the 

 upper mandible, though not furnished with distinct teeth like the 

 True Falcons, has the festoon or prominence that generally supplies 

 its place moro strong and angular than is usual among these tribe". 

 In some of the Accipitret this is particularly distinguishable. The 



