14 CLASS AVES. 



THE FIRST ORDER OF BIRDS. 



Birds op Prey, (Accipitres, Lin.) 



Are known by their bent beak and crooked talons, very 

 powerful arms, by means of which they pursue other 

 birds, and even weak quadrupeds and reptiles. They 

 are among the birds, what the carnivora are among 

 the quadrupeds. The muscles of their thighs and legs 

 indicate the strength of their talons ; their tarsi are 

 rarely elongated ; they all have four toes ; the thumb 

 nail and that of the internal toe are the strongest. 



They form two families, the diurnal and the noc- 

 turnal. 



The DIURNAL birds of prey have the eyes directed 

 sideways ; a membrane called the cera, which covers 

 the base of the beak, in which are pierced the nos- 

 trils ; three toes before, one behind without feathers, 

 the two external toes almost always united at their 

 base by a short membrane ; the plumage is close ; 

 the feathers are strong, and the flight powerful ; their 

 stomach is almost entirely membranous, their intes- 

 tines are but little extended, their csecum is very short, 

 the sternum large, and completely ossified, in order to 

 give to the muscles of the wing more extension ; and 

 their furca is semicircular and very wide, the better 

 to resist the violent falls of the humerus requisite to 

 a rapid flight. 



Linnaeus made only two genera, which are two 

 natural divisions, that is, the Vultures and Falcons. 



