518 



SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. ^ BAPTOBES — ACCIPITBES. 



cutting edges are usually lobed, or toothed (sec any fiJ^O- The lores, with occasional excep- 

 tions, due to nakedness or dense soft featherings, are scantily clothed with radiating bristly 

 feathers, which, however, do n(it f jrm, as usual in owls, a dense appressed ruff hiding the base 

 of the bill. Wings of 10 primaries, and tail of 13 rectrices (with rare exceptions); both 

 extremely variable in shape and relative and absolute lengths. The feet are usually strong and 

 efficient instruments of prehension and weapons of offence or defence, with widely separable 



Fig, 302. — Shoulder-joint of Accipitres; after Ritlgway. a, anterior end of coracoid; b, upper end of clavicle; 

 c, scapular procesg of coracoid, reaching b in the middle fig. (Falco peregrinus), but not in the left-band fig. { Bu/eo 

 borealis), nor in the right hand fig. {Pandion haliactus); d, lower end of scapula. The figs nat. size, left side, 

 viewed from opposite side. 



and strongly contractile toes, cleft to the base or there only united by small movable webs, and 

 generally scabrous underneath mth wart-like pads or tylari to prevent slipping, as shown in 

 fig. 46. The claws are developed into large sharp curved talons. The tarsal envelope (pod- 

 otheoa) varies ; sometimes the whole tarsus is feathered, and it is usually so in part ; the horny 

 covering takes the form of scutella, or reticulations, or rugous granulations, and is occasionally 

 fused. Tlie capacious gullet dilates into a crop ; the gizzard is moderately muscular ; the 

 ciEca are extremely small. The oil-gland is tufted. The syrinx has one pair of intrinsic 

 muscles. The ambiens and femoro-caudal muscles are present; the accessory femoro-caudal, 

 semitendinosus and its accessory are absent. There are good osteological characters : The 

 phalanges of the liind toe are more than lialf as long as those of the outer toe ; the basal joint 

 of the middle or outer toe is longer than the next one. There are mj basipterygoid processes. 

 The sterimm is manubriated, aud wlieu not entire behind is single-notched or fenestrate on each 

 side (doubly so in most owls). Huxley^has called attention to a character of the shoulder-girdh^, 

 afterward well elaborated by Mr. Eidgway (iig. 362) : In certain genera, as Falco, Micrastnr, 

 Herpetotheres, and in the Polyhorina, the scapular process of the coracoid, fig. :iG2, c, is pro- 

 longed beneath the scapula, d, to meet the clavicle, h; which is uot the case in other groups nf 

 genera of the Falconirla;, nor in PandionidcB. This distinction has been made the basis of a 

 primary division of tlio diurnal Accipitres into two subfamQies, Falconince and Buteonina', the 

 former including Poli/horus and its allies, the latter including Pandion; but some modification 

 of this scheme is advisable, I think. It seems to me that the primary division should bo made 

 as on p. 498, by excluding Pandionida; as a family distinct from Falconidat proper, on the 

 ground of its many peculiarities. This being done, the character of the shoulder-joint may 

 properly ho considered in dividing the Falconid.ce into subfamilies. I am perfectly willing to 

 approximate Polyborus to Falco on this technical ground, notwithstanding the great outward 

 dissimilarity of those two forms ; but it is unlikely tliat ornithologists wiU allow the construc- 

 tion of the sboulder-jiiint to outweigh all ofher characters combined. 



Diurnal Birds of Prey abound in all parts of the world, holding the relation to the rest of 

 their class that the carnivorous beasts do to other mammals. With many exceptions, the sexes 

 are alike in color, T)Ut the female is almost invariably larger than the male. The changes of 



