ORDER ACCIPITRES. 



69 



The tarsi are shielded, the toes short in propor- 

 tion, the region round the eyes denuded : there is a 

 long rough crest on the occiput, and the two interme- 

 diate quill feathers of the tail greatly exceed the rest. 

 It inhabits the dry and barren places in the environs 

 of the Cape, where it pursues the reptiles ; hence, 

 it has the claws worn down by use. Its principal 

 strength is in the leg. It is the F. serpentarius of 

 Gm. Enl. 721. 



The Vultur Serpentarius of Lath, and the Secre- 

 tarius reptilivorus of Daud. figured; Miller Cym. 

 Phys. t. 28. ; Petiver Gaz. t. 12, f. 12; Phil. Trans. 

 Ixi. t. 2 ; Le Vaill. O. A. t. 25, copied by Shaw; 

 and Lath. Hist. t. 7. 



Nocturnal Birds of Prey* 



Have the head large ; very large eyes, directed for- 

 ward, surrounded with a circle of slender feathers, the 

 anterior of which cover the cera of the beak, and the 

 posterior the opening of the ears. The enormous 

 pupils of their eyes permit so much light to enter, that 

 they are blind in open day. Their skull is thick, but 

 of a light substance, with large cavities which com- 

 municate with the ears, and probably increase the 

 sense of hearing ; but their apparatus for flight is not 

 very powerful ; the osfurcatum has no great resistance : 

 their feathers, with soft barbs, and very downy, make 



* Speaking of the divisions of this genus, an excellent ornitho- 

 logist has observed " All these divisions are unsatisfactory as 

 generic, not having, at least, external characters sufficiently distinct 

 to constitute even sections." 



