166 AVES. 



and llic her.fl, but not tlic nccl;, flevoid of fe.itlifTs. They are birds of moderate size, and in strength 

 do nut apprnnrh llie Vultures properly so called ; bence they are even more addicted to earrion and 

 all sorts of filtli, wliieh attract tbem tVoru afar. They do not even disdain to feed on excrement. 



The AVhite Neophron (I'. ^'T'^""/'/*'/-;/.?, Lin,)— Little lare;er than a Raven: thf* adult male [and probably also 

 the old female] white, with black quill-fcatliLirs ; the female and young br(.)\\u. [It is conimrm in Ati-ica, and the 

 countries bordering; tlie Mediterranean ; rare in the nortli of Europe : has been once killed in En.^'land.] It fu'- 

 lows the caravans in the desert, to devour all that dies. 



The U rub u (T. yo^a, Ch. Bonap.), or C<frr;o// C'ro;^ of the Anglo-Americans.— Tlie same size and form as the 

 preceding;, but witli a stouter bill, and tlie head entirely naked ; plumage wholly deep black. It abounds in the 

 temperate and hot parts of America, [and is ;,^enerally ranged in CV(//;ar?r*. One or more additiouj.! true Neo- 

 phrons, however, exist in Africa.] 



The Griffins {Gyjjaelos, Storr), — 

 Placed by Clnielin in his genus FaJco, ai»pro\imate the VuUures rather in their habits and conformation : 

 they have the eyes even with tlie head ; the claws projiortionally feeble ; wings half-extended when at 

 rest ; the craw, when fidl, projecting at the bottom of tlie neck : but their head is completely covered 

 with feathers; [and they have only thirteen cervical vertebra?, which is one more than in any of tlie 

 Falcons ; the Neophrons and Gallinazos possessing fourteen, and the Condors and true Yultnres fifteen. 

 The sternum is proportionally short, and very broad.] Their distinctive characters consist in a very 

 strong, straight beak, hooked at the point, and inflated on the curve; nostrils covered [owl-like] with 

 stiff hairs directed forward; and a pencil of similar hairs under the beak : their tarsi are short, and 

 feathered to the toes ; and their wings long, having the third quill longest. 



The Bearded Griffin, or Lammcr-getier, {V barbadts, and Falco barbatus, Gm.). — Tliis Is the largest bird of prey 

 belonging to the Eastern Continent: it inhabits the high chains of mountains, but is not very common. It 

 nestles in inaccessible acclivities ; attacks Lambs, Goats, the Chamois, and even, it is said, steeping Man [or 

 persons standing on the edge of a precipice] ; it is pretended that children have been sometimes carried away by 

 it, [a statement recently confirmed by facts, in more than one instance]. Its method is to force animals over steep 

 precipices, and to devour them when disabled by the fall. It does not, however, refuse dead bodies. Its lengtli 

 is nearly five feet (French), and extent of wing fi-om nine to ten feet. This bird is the Phene of the Greeks, and 

 tlie Q^.'iifraga of the Latins. [Tlie species of the Himmalayas is cunsidercd to be different.] 



Ti-iE F.\LC0Ns {Falco, Lin.) — 

 Constitute the second, and by much the most numerous divi>ion of the diurnal birds of prey. They 

 have the head and neck covered w-ith feathers: their eye-brows [except in the Ospreys] form a pro- 

 jection which occasions the eye to appear sunk, and imparts a very different character to their phv- 

 siognomy from that of the Vultures : the majority of tliem sidisist un living prey ; but they differ much 

 in the amount of courage displayed in the pursuit of it. Their Iirst plumage is often differently 

 coloured from the adult, and they do not [in most instances] assume the latter for three or four 

 years, — a circumstance which has occasioned the species to have been greatly multiplied by nomencla- 

 tors. Tlie fenude is generally one-third larger than the male, which, on tliis account, has been named 

 a tercel. 



It is necessary to subdivide this n^ciiiis hrst into two sections. 



The Falcoxs, properly so called, {Falco, Beohstein), comnmnly termed the Xohle Birds of Prey, — 



Compose the first. They are the most courageous in 

 proportion to their size, a quality which is derived from 

 the power of tlieir armature and wings. Their beak 

 (fig. 74), curved from its base, has a sharp tooth on each 

 si[le near tiie point ; and tlie second quill of their v.ings 

 is (he longest, the fiist nearly equalling it, \\hich renders 

 the entire wing longer and more pointed. From this. 

 ,*-( also, result particular habits ; the length of the quills of 

 *V> their wings weakens their efforts to ascend vertically, and 



\\ renders their forward flight, in a calm state of the at- 



f 



nosphere, very oblique, necessitating them, when they 



vi^h to rise directly, to fly against the wind. They are 



