OWLS AND BIRDSOF-PREY 



349 



it is now confined to the States bordering the Gulf of Mexico and the Mississippi 

 Valley, and is very local. 



owls and Birds- Perhaps the most noteworthy owl of the United States is the 



of-Prey. prairie-owl (Speotito hypogcea), which extends to Central America, but 

 is represented by a distinct species in South America. Most of the European and 

 north Asiatic owls have 

 American representatives, 

 among which it must suffice 

 to mention the American 

 eagle-owl (Bubo virgini- 

 anus). Among the falcons 

 are the American sparrow- 

 hawk (Falco sparverius), the 

 peregrine of the Eastern 

 Hemisphere, and the pigeon- 

 hawk (F. columbarius), a 

 bird smaller than the Euro- 

 pean kestrel. The golden- 

 eagle, otherwise known as 

 the Canadian eagle, is found 

 in the Rockjr Mountains, but 

 a much more common bird 

 is the white-headed sea-eagle 

 (Hali aetus leucocephalus), 

 which has been adopted as 

 the heraldic device of the 

 United States. The kites 

 have a conspicuous repre- 

 sentative in the swallow- 

 tailed Elanoides furcatus. 

 On the other hand, the place 

 of the vultures of the Old 

 World is taken in America 

 by the condors, of which, 

 in addition to the so-called 

 turkey-buzzard or turkey- 

 vulture (Cathartes aura), 

 the United States possses the 

 Californian condor (Pseudo- 

 gryphus calif 'ornianus), now 

 nearly exterminated. 





. 



SWALLOW-TAILED KITE. 



Game Birds. 



North America is the home of a very large number of game- 

 birds, among which the prairie-hen (Tympanuchus americanus) of 

 the Mississippi valley is a familiar type. The so-called partridges and quails of 

 North America form a group quite distinct from the one which includes the birds 

 properly thus styled ; one of the characters of the American group being the 



