BIRDS OF PREY. 263 



wards transferring it to the bill. In a similar manner all materials for the nest and 

 food for the young are carried in the claws ; and in combat with each other, or in the 

 repulse of intruders from their nests, the same members aided it may be by the 

 wings are depended upon. Anyone who has attempted to approach a wounded eagle 

 or hawk will remember the characteristic attitude assumed by the bird, which, throw- 

 ing itself on its back, awaits the attack with wide-spread threatening talons. 



In their relations to man, the Accipitres are at present serviceable in several ways, 

 among which their destruction of vermin and their work as scavengers are the most 

 important. Although their flesh is eaten by many tribes of savage or half-civilized 

 men, there are strong reasons why it would never be universally popular, even if easily 

 obtainable, and we suspect that the simile " tough as a boiled owl " is as truthful as it 

 is trite. Many members of the Falconidse, however, have been made eminently ser- 

 viceable to man, in providing him with game at a time when sporting-arms were too 

 primitive to yield very satisfactory results in the way of bird-flesh ; while falconry as 

 a pastime has been, in the past, one of the most universal and exciting field-sports 

 which the world has ever known. This, however, will be noticed when we come 

 to consider the true falcons. 



As to the number of distinct species included under the head of Accipitres, there 

 is, for various reasons, the widest divergence of opinion, but we shall probably not be 

 far out of the way if we say that there are from four hundred to four hundred and fifty 

 good species in all, of which about two thirds are diurnal birds and the remainder owls. 



As already stated, we shall consider the order as consisting of four primary groups, 

 which may be artificially distinguished as follows : The first family, the Gypogeran- 

 idae, or serpent-eaters, have the head feathered, the eyes looking laterally, the nostrils 

 separated by a bony, imperforate partition, the legs very long, the hind toe on a level 

 with the rest, the outer toe not versatile, the claws blunt and but slightly curved. It 

 embraces but a single diurnal species from South Africa. 



The American vultures form the second family, the Cathartidae. These have the 

 head naked, the eyes looking laterally, the nostrils not separated by an imperforate 

 bony partition, but communicating with each other, the legs of moderate length, the 

 hind toe somewhat above the rest, the outer toe not versatile, and the claws varying 

 with the species. Only six or eight species are known, all diurnal, and confined to 

 America. 



The third family, the Falconidas, embraces some three hundred diurnal species of 

 eagles, hawks, falcons, the Old World vultures, etc. These may have the head 

 feathered or naked ; they have the eyes looking laterally, the nostrils separated by a 

 bony, imperforate partition, legs of moderate size, the hind toe on the same level with 

 the rest, the outer toe not versatile, except in a single species (the osprey), the claws 

 variable. 



The owls, or Strigida?, have the eyes looking directly forward, the nostrils as in the 

 last family, the legs moderate, the hind toe on the same level with the rest, the outer 

 toe always versatile, the claws always sharp and much curved. About one hundred 

 and fifty species are known, nocturnal, and inhabiting all parts of the world. 



In qualification of this diagnosis we may add that a few of the Falconidaj are 

 somewhat crepuscular in habit, while at least one member of the Strigidse is diurnal. 



The singular South African secretary, Gypogeranus serpentarius, although unques- 

 tionably belonging among the birds of prey, is so entirely unlike the rest of them 

 that it must of necessity stand as the type and only member of a peculiar family, the 



