320 



AVES ORDER ACCIPITRIFORMES. 



allies, the Merlin (F. cesalon) and kindred species, the Lanner (F. feldeggii) 

 and several other Falcons peculiar to the tropical portions of the Old and 

 New Worlds. 



The Kestrels differ from the true Falcons in having the outer toe short, 



and about equal to the inner toe in length. They are birds of small size, 



and are chiefly insectivorous, many of them catching 



The Kestrels. their prey on the wing, and devouring it as they fly. They 



Genus Cerchneis. catch a large number of field mice, and are everywhere 



a real friend to the agriculturist. In Dr. Fisher's report 



on the American Kestrel and its food, it is interesting to observe that in the 



stomachs of a large series (320) examined, few remains of birds were found, 



but a considerable number of mice. The chief food of the species was, 



however, grasshoppers, locusts, and caterpillars. 



The Ospreys, or Fishing Hawks, as they are often called, hold an 



intermediate position between the Hawks and the Owls. The skeleton 



very closely approaches that of the latter birds, and the 



The Ospreys. Ospreys have another character in common with the 



Sub-order Owls, viz., that the outer toe is reversible, and can be 



Pandwnes. turned backwards or forwards at will. The soles of 



the feet are likewise furnished with spicules, thus 



enabling the bird, with its toes distributed nearly at right angles and its 



spiked soles, to seize and drag from the water the large fish on which 



it preys. 



The Osprey is now a very rare bird in Great Britain, and is only found 

 in certain parts of Scotland, where it is protected, though a few stragglers, 

 mostly young birds, are shot in other parts of 

 the United Kingdom from time to time. The 

 Osprey is a cosmopolitan species, and is found 

 nearly over the whole of the world, the birds 

 from the Australian region being slightly smaller 

 than those from Europe or North America. The 

 nest of the Osprey is an enormous structure, and 

 is placed on a tree, or on a ruined building. 

 The eggs are among the handsomest of those of 

 Birds of Prey. 



In addition to the reversible toe alluded to 

 above, a character which they share with the 

 Ospreys, the Owls are further 

 The Owls. distinguished by their soft 

 Sub-order Striges. plumage, and by the absence 

 of a cere or waxlike skin at 

 the base of the bill, which is seen in almost all 

 the true Accepitres. Owls have also a facial fig. 65. TUB OBPRKTS 



disk, which is surrounded by a ring of short, (Pandionhaiicetus). 



crisp feathers reaching from below the chin, and x 



extending above the eye to the base of the bill. The nostrils are also 

 generally hidden by bristles, and the eyes are directed 

 The Horned and forwards instead of sideways. 



Wood-Owls. The sub-order Striges contains but two families 



family Bubonida. BubonidcR, comprising the Owls generally, and the Barn- 

 Owls (Strigidce). In these birds the hind margin of the 

 sternum or breast- bone has two distinct clefts, and the furcula or "merry- 



