ACCIPITRES. 



2J 



bility either of flight or defence. They have a very 

 keen sight. They are uncouth and ragged in their 

 forms, and, in proportion to their strength, cowardly 

 in their dispositions. 



Their more obvious characters are the beak 

 straight at the base, hooked at the tip; part of the 

 bead and neck bare of feathers, the eyes close to the 

 head. The tarsi and talons rather feeble, the former 

 covered with a network of small scales; the wings 

 very long, and seldom quite closed when the birds are 

 on the ground. They, however, vary a good deal in 

 their habits. Though cowardly in their nature, and 

 easily put to flight, even by much weaker birds, when 

 these otter to attack them, the vultures are daring 

 enough hi the search of their food. They will not 

 only hover around carnivorous mammalia, and attempt 

 to share the carrion or other prey upon which these 

 are feeding ; but they approach human habitations, 

 encampments, and even cities, pouncing readily upon 

 animal substances, but preferring those that are in a 

 putrid state. They are the least predaceous birds of 

 the order; and some of them, in a few of their cha- 

 racters, bear a slight resemblance to the poultry tribes. 

 They build their nests generally in rocks, and do not 

 perch on trees. See VULTURE. 



The Falcon tribe (Fa/coni- 

 dai). This family, as has been 

 hinted, admits of convenient 

 subdivision ; but the general 

 characters of the whole are 

 striking and well defined. The head and neck are 

 feathered ; the eye is shaded by a projection above, 

 which has something of the appearance of an eye- 

 brow, and gives great keenness, as well as intelligence 

 of expression, to the eye, which,"in itself, is very bright. 

 The cere of the bill is generally coloured, and the 

 basal portion of it beset with short strong hairs. Both 

 mandibles are, in general, hooked throughout their 

 whole length. They are very strong ; the upper one 

 pointed at the tip ; the under one obliquely rounded, 

 and the cutting edges are furnished with a tooth, or 

 notch, more or less perfect. The whole instrument 

 indicates a capacity of rending substances in a more 

 recent and consistent state than the carrion beak of 

 the vultures. The nostrils are pierced in the cere, 

 open, and rounded or oval in their outline. 



The tarsi are stout and of moderate length, and 

 covered with feathers or with scales ; the outer toe 

 is often united to the middle one, with a membrane at 

 its base ; but the inner toe is quite free. The claws 

 are very pointed and sharp, capable of much motion 

 when the bird is excited ; but retractile, although not 

 into sheaths, when it is in a state of repose. The 

 retraction, which is performed by an elastic tendon, 

 elevates the point of the claw above the plane of the 

 pad on the tip of the toe, so that the claws are not 

 injured when the birds rest upon sharp points. The 

 claws are not used in feeding. 



In many of the species, there is considerable differ- 

 ence between the plumage of the young and mature 

 birds, which has sometimes led to the multiplying of 

 pecies into two or more. The same mistake 

 ilso, sometimes arisen from the difference between 

 the mule and the female. The female is by far the 

 more powerful bird, often a third heavier than the 

 male, and strong, bold, and fierce in proportion. The 

 principal differences in the plumage are, the young 

 have the colours more broken and mottled than the 

 mature birds, have more the tint of the female than 



that of the male, and the females are more inclined to 

 brown than the males. 



They are very strong, and can carry an animal 

 nearly as heavy as themselves through the air for 

 many miles. They prefer the prey which they kill, 

 which are most of them warm-blooded animals, birds, or 

 the smaller quadrupeds ; but some of them also eat 

 reptiles, fishes, and even beetles. They are not cruel 

 birds, and do not torture their prey like the vultures. 

 They are quiet birds, and seldom come abroad except 

 to seek their food. They nestle in lofty and inacces- 

 sible places, and more rarely in trees or on the ground. 



They eject by the mouth the bones and other exuvia 

 of their food which resist the process of digestion ; 

 and the ejectment is in the form of balls, which are called 

 " castings," or " quids." They inhabit most parts of 

 the world ; but the larger species arc found only in 

 wild places, arid the more bold and daring ones in the 

 cold latitudes rather than in the warm or even the 

 temperate. 



The more obvious subdivisions are, EAGLES, HAR- 

 RIERS, HAWKS, KITES, and BUZZARDS, under which 

 titles notices of the more remarkable species will be 

 found. 



TRIBE II. NOCTURNAL 

 BIRDS or PREY. Though 

 the habit of these is pre- 

 daceous as well as that of 

 the former, they arc very 

 different both in their cha- 

 racters and the times of 

 their appearance. The 

 diurnal birds of prey have 

 their plumage compact and 

 firm, and when they dart 

 through the air they ring 

 as though they were clad 

 in armour; and few of 

 them will seize their prey except openly in the free 

 air and the light ; and the most daring ones assail it 

 only when on the wing. The nocturnal species, on 

 the other hand, are birds of twilight and gloom; they 

 reside during the day in holes or the thick coverts of 

 trees ; and most of them, when they resolve to fly 

 while the sun shines, appear confused and lose their 

 way. Their plumage is " fined off" at its terminations 

 into a very soft and delicate fringe, which enables 

 them to glide noiseless through the air, and even 

 among the leaves and sprays of the thick forests, of 

 which some of them are inhabitants. Their noises 

 even are hollow and dolorous, and have not the 

 stirring and ear-piercing effect of the chirrup of the 

 diurnal accipitres ; and hence they have obtained 

 the common name of OWLS, or " howlers." 



Their most general characters are these : the head 

 large and round, having a slight resemblance to that 

 of a cat ; their eyes very large, directed forwards, 

 capable of great dilatation in the pupil, and sur- 

 rounded more or less with fine downy feathers, 

 which in some of the species form u complete 

 circle, which nearly hides the bill. Their external 

 ears are hidden by feathers, but they have large 

 cavities in the skull, and the sense of hearing is pre- 

 sumed to be very acute. Their bodies, in consequence 

 of their thick and downy plumage, are very small and 

 light in proportion to their apparent si/.c ; and their 

 bones have not the general strength of those of the 

 preyers by day : their beaks also, though hooked and 



