CHAPTER XII. 



The DirPvNAL Birds of Prey, or Accipitrines, — Order Accipitres. 



S-CXoi^c. del ct Sc 



The diurnal birds of prey were 



long classed in a single group with 



the owls and the ospreys, but first 



the former and then the latter 



were divided off'; and there is 



little doubt that view is correct, 



although, to our thinking, the merlins. 



ospreys appear to connect the two 



groups very intimately. Exclusive of the ospreys, the diurnal birds of prey, 



as they may be convenientl}^ designated, include falcons, hawks, kites, eagles, 



buzzards, harriers, and vultures, together with the so-called secretary-bird of 



Africa and the American vultures ; the two latter forming very aberrant groups, 



one or both of which are by some ornithologists regarded as constituting 



distinct orders. By the older naturalists the Accipitrines were placed at the head 



of the birds, but by common consent they have now to yield this position to the 



Passerines, which are, on tlie whole, the most highly organised members of the 



entire class. It must, however, be remembered that, for their own particular mode 



of life, the organisation of these birds is as perfect as it is possible to conceive ; 



and, from the mechanical point of view, the spectacle of a falcon swooping on its 



quarry presents us with onc^ of the very highest developments of bird-life. 



