ACCIPITRES. 127 



r. 

 '&? 



FAMILY I. 



DIURN^E. 



The eyes of the diurnal Birds of prey are directed sideways; they 

 have a membrane called the cera, or cere, covering the base of the 

 beak, in which the nostrils are pierced; three toes before, one behind, 

 without feathers, the two external ones almost always united at base 

 by a short membrane; the plumage dense, the quills strong, and great 

 power on the wing. Their sternum is broad and completely ossified 

 in order to give more extended attachments to the muscles of the 

 wings, and their fourchette semicircular and widely separated, the 

 better to resist the violent flexions of the humerus necessary to a 

 rapid flight. 



Linnaeus comprehended them all under two genera, which are so 

 many natural divisions, the Vultures and the Falcons. 



Vui/rus, Lin. 



The Vultures hare eyes flush with the head, and reticulated tarsi, that is, 

 covered with small scales; an elongated beak, curved only at the end, and a 

 greater^or less portion of the head, or even of the neck divested of feathers. 

 The strength of their talons does not correspond with their size, and they 

 make more use of their beak than of their claws. Their wings are so long 

 that in walking they keep them in a state of semi-extension. They are a 

 cowardly genus, feeding oftener on carrion than on a living prey; when they 

 have fed, their crop forms a great protuberance above the fourchette, a fetid 

 humour flows from their nostrils, and they are almost reduced to a state of 

 stupid insensibility. 



Vult. gryphus, L. (The Condor.) Blackish; a great part of the wing 

 ash coloured; collar silky and white; the male, in addition to his superior 

 caruncle, which is large and entire, has another under the beak, like the 

 cock. This species has been rendered famous by exaggerated reports of 

 its size; it is, however, but a little larger than the Laemmer-geyer, to which 

 it assimilates in habits. It is found in the most elevated mountains of the 

 Andes in South America, and flies higher than any other bird. 



The genus Vultur is now divided into Vnltur proper, Cathartes (our Tur- 

 key Buzzard), Percnopterus (the Urubu or Carrion Crow of the south), and 

 Gypactos, to which last belongs the Lsemmer-geyer, the largest bird of prey 

 in the eastern continent. 



FALCO, Lin. 



The Falcons form the second, and by far most numerous division of the 

 diurnal birds of prey. Their head and neck are covered with feathers; 



