ACCIPITRES. 219 



the thumb. Such, it is said, are its powers, that it has cleft a man's 

 skull with its bill ; its ordinary food is the sloth, and it frequently 

 carries off fawns. 



MORI'HNUS, Cuv.* 



The Morphni, or Goshawk Eagles, like the preceding, have wings 

 shorter than the tail; but their elevated and slender tarsi and weak toes 

 compel us to separate them. 



Some of them have naked and scutellated tarsi. 



F. (juianensis, Daud. ; Petit Aujle de la Guiane, Maud. Encyc. 

 It has a singular resemblance in colour and crest to the Great Fisher 

 Eagle of the same country ; but it is not so large, and its naked 

 and scutellated tarsi sufficiently distinguish it; the mantle is black- 

 ish, sometimes variegated with a deep grey ; abdomen white, undu- 

 lated more or less strongly with fawn colour ; head and neck some- 

 times grey, and sometimes white; the occipital tuft, long and 

 blackish. 



F. uruhitinga, L. ; Spix, I. Black; no crest; rump and base of 

 the tail, white. When young, brown above; fawn coloured, sprin- 

 kled with brown beneath (Col. 55). This beautiful bird hunts on 

 inundated grounds -j". 

 Others have elevated tarsi feathered throughout the whole of their length. 

 F. occipitalis, Daud.; Huppart, Vaill. Afr. I. ii; Bruce, Abyss. 

 pi. xxxii. As large as a crow ; black ; a long crest or tuft pendent 

 from the occiput; the tarsi, borders of the wings, as well as of the 

 bands under the tail, whitish. Throughout all Africa. 



F. ornatus, Daud. ^ ; F. superbus and coronatus, Sh. ; Crested 

 Goshawk, Vaill. Afric. I. xxvi; Spizaetus ornatus, Vieillot, Galer. 

 21 ; Aigle moyen de la Guiane, Maud. Encyclop. ; Booted Spar- 

 rowhawk, Azz. Calotte and crests black; sides of the neck of a 

 bright red; mantle black, variegated with grey, undulated with 

 white ; above white ; flanks, thighs, and tarsi striped with black ; 

 tail, black, with four grey bands. A beautiful bird of South Ame- 

 rica, varying from black and white to a deep brown §. 

 Finally, America produces birds with bills similar to the preceding 

 ones; very short reticulated tarsi half covered with feathers in front; 

 wings shorter than the tail, and whose most distinguishing character con- 

 sists in their almost closed nostrils, which resemble Assures. We may 



* Morphnus, the Greek name for an imdetermined bird of prey. It is from my 

 Morphnus that Vieillot has made his Spizaetes. 



f The FUol longipes, lUig. ; the yl(j. picta, Spix, I. appear to me to be only young 

 Urubitingas. — Add the Aifle-autour nwuclieie {Aq. maculosa), Vieill. Amer. pi. iii. bis; 

 — the Panema {Aq. milvo'ides) Spix, Id. 



X This is certainly the Urutaurana of Margrave; but that author describes it as 

 being of the size of an Eagle, which is at least one-third too large. The Harpyia 

 braccata, Spix, III. is the young bird of the same species. 



§ Add here, of crested species, the blanchard, Vaill. Afr. 3. (F. albescens, Sh.); 

 — L'Autoitr tyran {F. tyrannus, Pr. Max.), Col. 73; L'Autour cristaielle, Temm. Col. 

 285: of species without crests, VAutonr neigeux, Temm. Col. 127; — VAut. incslore, 

 Id.ib. 134, or Falcn llneatus, Horsf. .Java. 



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