LAND BIRDS. 257 
TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. 
Head and upper art of neck entirely bare or with only a few “bristles;’’ wings very 
long, when folded ¢ eir tips reaching to or beyond the tip of tail. Tail much rounded. 
Adult: Nearly uniform black, dull below, glossy above ; the feathers of back, scapulars 
and wing-coverts more or less margined with grayish brown. Bill white; iris brown; 
naked skin of head dull red; feet brownish black. Young: Similar, but bill blackish, 
head dusky, and general color of upper parts black, with less brown on scapulars and 
wing-coverts. The young when just hatched, and for several weeks thereafter, is covered 
with pure white down except on the head which is largely naked. 
Length 26 to 32 inches; extent about 6 feet; wing 20 to 23 inches ; tail 11 to 12; culmen 1. 
Suborder FALCONES. Diurnal Birds of Prey. 
This suborder includes all our birds of prey except the Turkey Buzzard 
and the owls, and under the scheme of classification recently (1910) adopted 
by the American Ornithologists’ Union, is divisible into three families, 
viz., the Buteonide, comprising a majority of all the species, the Falconide 
or true falcons (four species), and the Pandionide or ospreys, a single 
species. The latter, the Fish Hawk, is unique in the structure of its foot, 
which has the outer toe reversible, the lower surface of all the toes thickly 
studded with spicules, and the claws or talons strong, slender, much curved, 
extremely sharp, and all of the same length—adaptations for holding the 
slippery prey on which it lives. The other families, Buteonide and 
Falconide are defined with difficulty, the single point by which they can 
be diagnosed sharply being the anatomical structure of the shoulder, only 
to be determined by dissection. It seems best therefore not to attempt 
to separate the three families here, but to give an artificial key for all the 
species of the suborder, as follows: 
KEY TO SPECIES. aA. | 
A. Fourth toe (outer toe) reversible, i. e. turning 
either to the front or back; claws of all \ | 
the toes approximately the same length. \ 
Osprey or Fish-hawk. No. 148. 
AA. Fourth toe not reversible; claws of unequal 
length, that of the hind toe usually longest, 
that of outer toe shortest. (Fig. 71.) B, BB. 
B. Very large birds, wings 20 inches or more. 
C, CC. 
C. Tarsus or shank feathered to base of toes. 
(Fig. 74). Golden Eagle. No. 143. 
CC. Lower third or half of tarsus without 
feathers. Bald Eagle. No, 144. 
BB. Not so large, wing from 6 to 18 inches. 
D, DD. 
D. Cutting edge of upper mandible toothed 
and notched (Fig. 75). E, EE. 
E. With two or more teeth and inter- 
vening notches on each side; 
general color bluish-gray, almost 
white on head; wing 10.30 to 
12.30. Mississippi Kite. No. 133. Fig. 71. 
33 
