184 BIRDS. RAPACES. 



ash-colour^ the ribs white ; tail long, much raised j bill and claws 

 black ; feet blue ; iris orange ; eyes surrounded by a red line. 

 About four feet seven inches long. 



V. barbatus and barbarus, Lath, and Gmel. ; V. aureus, Briss. ; Vautour dore, 

 Buff. ; Bearded and Golden Vulture, Lath. ; the Nisser, Bruce. The young, 

 V. niger, Lath. ; G. melanocephalus, Meyer. 



This species is a native of many of the wilder regions of Asia and Africa, and 

 exists also, though more sparingly, in Europe, as in the Swiss Alps and Pyrenees, 

 and in the mountains of Tyrol and Hungary. The German appellation of Lacmmcr 

 Gcyer, or Lamb Vulture^ has been applied to it, as to other large birds of prey. 



Gen. 4. GYPOGERAJJUS, Illig. Vultur^ Lath. 



Bill shorter than the head ; thick, strong, hooked, bent from 

 its origin, furnished with a cere at its base, a little arched, com- 

 pressed at the point ; nostrils a little separated at the base, 

 lateral, pierced in the cere, diagonal, oblong, open ; legs very 

 long, slender ; tibia feathered, tarsus long, slenderer at its base 

 than at its upper part ; toes short, warty below, the anterior 

 united at the base ; thumb articulated on the tarsus ; wings 

 long, the first five wing-feathers longest and almost equal ; 

 wings armed with a blunt spur. 



G. serpentarius, Tern. (Vultur serpentarius,'Lm.) The Secretary. 

 Colour cinereous; tail wedge-shaped, with the middle tail- 

 feathers lengthened,, and a crest of feathers on the occiput capa- 

 ble of erection. Inhabits Cape of Good Hope Shaw, vii. pi. 14. 

 This species inhabits the dry plains in the lower parts of Africa and the Philip, 

 pine Islands. Being almost always obliged to run in pursuit of its prey, it seldom 

 avails itself of its power of flight ; and it frequently kills, or at least wholly disables, a 

 snake, by breaking the vertebras with a single stroke of the wing. In its natural 

 state it is very wild, and not easily approached, but when taken young, the snake- 

 eater may be easily tamed, and kept with poultry in the farm-yard, where it is 

 serviceable in destroying rats and other noxious animals. It may be fed with meat, 

 either raw or dressed, and will readily eat fish ; but if allowed to fast too long, it 

 is apt to seize on small chickens and ducklings, which it swallows whole. 



Gen. 5. FALCO, Lin. 



Head covered with feathers ; bill hooked, generally bent from 

 its origin ; a coloured cere, more or less hairy at its base ; 

 mandibles sometimes notched ; nostrils lateral, rounded or 

 oval, pierced in the cere, open ; legs with tarsi covered with 

 feathers or scales ; three toes before, one behind, the exte- 

 rior generally united at its base to the middle toe ; claws 

 sharp, much hooked, retractile. 



The Falcons are noble birds of prey. Their appearance and their motions indicate 

 their manner of living to be very different from the preceding genera. Strength 

 and cunning form the attributes of this family. They are provided with more power- 

 ful offensive arms, and their power of wing, of sight, and prehension are also 

 very different. The size of their head is in proportion to their body, and both it and 

 the neck, which is thick and short, are covered with feathers. They live in couples, 

 and are not gregarious. Their food consists of living prey, which they seize and carry 

 in their talons. They rise in the air to a prodigious height, their flight is rapid and 

 sustained, and their sight is very acute. The larger species feed on the smaller 







