RAPACIOUS BIRDS. 119 



glancing his quick and piercing eye in every direction, 

 in search of the little fish that swim near the surface. 

 When he sees one that suits him, he darts down, 

 catches, and swallows it in an instant, and then flies 

 back, and quietly takes his station again. He loves to 

 visit brawling brooks^ and such little cascades as are 

 made by mill dams, and when he has no luck in fish- 

 ing at one station, he flies swiftly to another. Some- 

 times in his flight, he stops, and balancing himself by a 

 rapid motion of the wings, he dives, and, having caught 

 and swallowed a little fish, away he goes again. 



RAPACIOUS BIRDS. 



The RAPACIOUS BIRDS live entirely on flesh, which 

 some of them kill for themselves, while others eat only 

 such as they find already dead. They are all furnished 

 with sharp talons, or claws, with which they seize 

 their prey, and with hooked bills to tear the flesh. 

 These birds associate in pairs, but never unite in flocks. 

 In this tribe the female is larger and stronger than the 

 male. To this order belong the Condor, the Vultures, 

 the Eagles, the Falcons, and the Owls. 



