248 



DIURNAL BIRDS OF PREY. 



marked, except on the head and throat, with narrow black bars. The large beak 

 is pale blue, the cere and naked portion of the face are normally carmine-red, and 

 the legs and feet yellow. Under certain conditions naked portions of the face 



may, however, assume a pale 

 colour. In northern South 

 America, as well as in Central 

 America and southern North 

 America, together with Cuba and 

 Trinidad, there occurs the rather 

 smaller Audubon's caracara (P. 

 cheriway)] and a third species 

 (P. lutosus) characterises the 

 island of Guadaloupe. Although 

 largely carrion-eaters, these birds 

 will attack living prey, the 

 Brazilian species sometimes ven- 

 turing to encounter the skunk. 

 In North America they generally 

 nest in cabbage-palms. 

 Falkland Island This species 



Caracara. (Ryder australis), 

 which is represented in the 

 upper figure of our illustration, 

 may be taken as a well-known 

 example of the second genus, 



in which the nostrils are circular, and most of the species of considerably 

 smaller dimensions that the last. This bird attains a total length of 25 inches, 

 and has its plumage of a general black hue. The nape and neck are, however, 

 marked with streaks of white ; and there are also similar white markings on the 

 throat and chest, which on the abdomen pass into minute spots. The quills are 

 dark brown, with lighter tips, and the black tail has a broad white band at the 

 end. The feathers on the inner surfaces of the thighs are tawny ; the cere and 

 feet are yellow ; the greater part of the beak is yellowish, and the iris brown. 

 This species is restricted to the Falkland Islands, and is replaced in the Amazon 

 districts and some adjacent parts of South America by the black caracara (/. ater), 

 which is a much smaller bird, measuring only 16 inches in length, and character- 

 ised by the whole plumage, with the exception of a white band across the base of 

 the tail, being black, with greenish reflections. Agreeing in size with the black 

 caracara is the very differently-coloured bird known as the chimachima (/. chima- 

 chima), of which an immature example is represented in the lower figure of our 

 illustration. This caracara ranges from Brazil northwards of the tropic, through 

 Colombia into Panama. In the adult the prevailing colour may be said to be white ; 

 a streak from the eye towards the back of the head, the back, wings, and tail being 

 mainly dark brown, with lighter margins to many of the feathers. The first four 

 primary quills are white with dark markings in the middle of their length, while 

 the remainder are yellowish white at the base, with dark brown tips. The tail- 



BRAZILIAN CARACARA. 



