CHAPTER XXIX. 

 RAPTORES. 



Birds of Prey — Altricial. 



These are the birds of prey, and comprise the eagles> 

 the vultures, the hawks, the falcons, the kites, the buzzards- 

 and the owls. 



The young are downy at birth, but must be long fed 

 and nourished in the nest; in some ways, they are even 

 more helpless than are some of the passerine birds. The 

 mother eagle has often a harder time to teach her eaglets 

 to fly than falls to the lot of the tiny humming bird 

 mother; occasionally, the eaglets must be pushed over 

 the side of the nest and compelled to use their wings. 

 In the typical families, the structure betokens strength 

 and activity, ferocity, and carnivorous food habits. But 

 in the smaller, weaker species the diet is mainly insectiv- 

 orous; other species feed upon reptiles and fish, but 

 the majority enjoy a flesh diet and capture their prey in 

 open warfare. 



The wings are broad and ample, and the coverts are 

 long and numerous, covering about three-fourths of the 

 folded wing. The bill is cered like the bill of the parrots, 

 but the feet are not zygodactyle. The tail is variable in 

 form, but has twelve rectrices. The alimentary canal 

 varies within the order according to the families. Among 

 the owls, the alimentation is so regulated that indigestible 

 portions, such as hide, bones, or feathers, are formed into 

 pellets in the stomach and disgorged through the mouth. 



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