74 BlilD GALLERY. 



toes armed with strong curved claws. By means of these powerful 

 weapons they are able to seize and kill their prey and to tear up the 

 flesh. They are monogamous, and the female is generally larger than 

 the male. The eggs are few in number, and the young when hatched 

 are in a naked and helpless condition. 



Three families are recognised, the first including the Vultures 

 (Vulturid<e), the second the Eagles and Hawks {Falconidce), a,nd the 

 third the Ospreys {Pandionidce). 



Family I. Vulturid^. Vultures. 



PP These Birds of Prey inhabit the tropical and subtropical portions of 



45, 46, the Old World, where they represent the Turkey-Vultures {Cathartidce) 

 ^^ of America. As has already been mentioned above, they differ from the 

 case.] latter birds in many important particulars, but in their habits they are 

 very similar. They feed chiefly on the carcases of dead animals which 

 their keen sight enables them to discover, and though many naturalists 

 have maintained that it is chiefly by the sense of smell that they find 

 their prey, there can be no doubt that this is a mistake, as has been 

 proved by experiments. Their claws being short and rather blunt, 

 Vultures rarely attack and kill living animals ; they are cowardly 

 sluggish birds, endowed with extraordinary powers of flight. 

 [Case 46.] The Cinereous or Black N\x\i\xve {V. monachus) (829), ranging from 

 Southern Europe to China, is the only representative of the genus 

 Vultur. It is rather solitary in its habits, breeding singly in trees and 

 rm ,1 _ not in colonies like the Griffon- Vultures (Gyps fulvus) (830), all stages 

 case.] of which, from the nestling to the adult, will be found exhibited in the 

 adjoining Central Case. This southern European species is one of the 

 most familiar, and is specially numerous in Spain, where it breeds 

 [Case 45.] in caves in the perpendicular crags of the Sierras. Another represen- 

 tative of the genus is the Himalayan Griffon- Vulture (G. himalayensis) 

 (831). A closely allied form, the White-headed Vulture {Lophogyps 

 * occipitalis) (832), will be found on the floor of the next Case, together 

 [Case 46.] ^^^^^ ^^^ Sociable or Eared Vulture {Otogyps auricularis) (833) and the 

 Egyptian Vulture [Neophron percnopterus) (834), which has on more 

 than one occasion wandered to Great Britain. 



Family II. Falconid^. Eagles and Hawks. 

 (Plates XV., XVI., XXV.) 



IP . Almost all the remaining Birds of Prey are included in this family, 



and are divided into six subfamilies, the Caracaras {Polyborinae) , the 

 Long-legged Hawks {AccipitriiKs) , the Buzzards [Buteonirue) , the 

 Bearded Vultures {Gypa'etince) , the Eagles [Aquilinee), and the Falcons 



