164 



AVES. 



(fig. 7-, (j) is semicircular and very wide, the better to resist the violent pressure of the humerus 

 incidental to a rapid Ihj^ht. [The young undergo no change of feather until their second 



autumn ; and the}' renew their plumage slowly, and in no 

 instance more than once in the year j its seasonal change 

 being conhned to a slight wearing off, rather than a natural 

 sheddmg, of the margins of the feathers : in several speeies, 

 however, the colour indicative of maturity is ])artially ac- 

 quired, previously to moulting, by a change of hue in the first 

 or nestling plumage. The eggs of Aceipitrine Birds are 

 nearly S}iherical ; and those of the ]ireseiit division are gene- 

 rally more or less spotted or blotched with rusty-brown. 

 The young are at hrst densely clad ni sliort soft down.] 



Linnaeus made only two genera, which are two natural 

 divisions, — the Vultures and the Falcons. 



The Vultures (J^ul/ur, Lin.) — 

 Have the eyes even \\ith the head; the tarsi reticulated, or, in 

 other words, coveroil with small scales; the beak lengthened, 

 curvrd only at the ein) ; and a greater or lo?,s portion df tlie head, 

 and generally of the nt.'ck, [in tlieadnh,] devoid of feathers. The 

 force of their talons does not eorresiiond with their stature, and 

 tliey make more use of their lieak than of tliuir claws. Their 

 wings are so long, that in walldng they hold thcni halt-extended. 

 They are of a cowardly di^posllion, and feed on carrion oftener 

 than on living prey: "when they have gorged themselves, their 

 craw forms a large protuberance aliove the fourchette, a fetid 

 humour issues from their nostrils, and they are almost reduced 



FlfirJl.— AlimeiilrvryCanal of the Common Buziarrf . ■ 



cxi.ibitMi^;[iie fir^ieTpM.!.iDn, or craw ; -.uid [be- to a state of apathv. rThey dilfer, moreover, from all the suc- 



low the divFiiication uf th« (ra'Art'<0 tlie provd.-i- I . l -■ 



tricuius, Mom-idi ftnd intestinca. Tiie «L-conri ceedinR ffroups, till wc arrivc at the Poultrv, — with the sole eX' 



epreseiits the Icrniiiiatinii nf ihr- HtnH'i o n I ' 



ception of the Secretary genus {Gypogeranu.s), which indeed might 

 berani^ed with them, — in possessing more than twelve cervical ver- 



tchrpef: their fourehe'te, tnouff cxtreniciv i^tout and wide, 



is flattened as in the OuU: the ste»nai crest low, and reduced ^^ ^ ^ ::; 



antori'"n-!y ; and the posterior erJee i,i' the sternum (lig. 73), in 



some of tho.se of America, is d -ibly emarginated for some 



time: they even further accord v.'Oh the Owls in having a rib 



less than tlie Fulconine grnera* 



Tui^ Vultures, properly so /a-led, {Vidfur, Cnv.) — 



Have a large and strong beak, the uostnis opening cross-wise at 

 its l>ase, the head and neck without leaihers or caruncles, and a 

 collar of long feathers, or of down, at the base of the neck. 

 They have hitherto been fouua ou!? on tne old continent [but 

 none of the tribe are met witli ni Australia, where the ab:^ence 

 of larger indigenous quadruiieds tbua the Kangaroos, and of 

 predatory animals that bhould reave the surplus of their 

 meals to putrefy, indicate that they could not be sup- 

 ported.] X 



filfun 



iiitcst 



form ihc ulijuca, ami twu n 



the juiictiiin of the great nr 



• ropif.1 from ^^VCAWwr-iy'^^ Rnp„rHin3 nhda o) Xr.tmt,.- -^b 



t 111 ilii' long series ur nrof ps ..ilvt-rted lo, l^ie U.i.K-.-iHi. vc 



geiic..'"" '■'" nut ulwuys, bents ;i piiir of iiiinutL ribn, wliitlion 



till they dlsappes' in some speLics i if, ihtrcf"'-*!. thi; tliiri 



vertebra is to he ewiisid-'-'"! as cervical in uueii cassa, ..s not hi 



I Thf .Itcrturu. Gr.iy, "-IulIi hil^ lirrn it:M..rini tly >rW>\ 

 Vuhurts, (8 io every respeet u true I'l.uhry birJ. 



n.lcally 

 nth the 



