ACCIPITRES. 1G7 



exceedingly docile Birds, and are those Khich are most generally employed in falconry, being taught 

 to pursue game, and to return wlien called. 



'riie Peregrine Falcon (F. communis, Gin. ; [F. peregrinio!, Lin. j.— Apparently a cluster of indefinitely distin- 

 ;?uishable species, R-enerally diffused in temperate climates, both northward and southward of the equator]. The 

 species mostly trained for purposes of falconry. 



[There are numerous others, of which the Jcr Fidcon, the Lanner,— ^vhich is intermediate to the Jcr and 

 Perej^rine Falcons,— the Hobby, the Red-legged, and the Merlin Falcons, inhabit northern Europe. The Red- 

 leg;;ed Falcon is remarkable for sometimes breeding in society. F. concolor and some others have the 

 tarsi elongated: and in F. <Esalon (the Merlin), and some allied species, the third quill-feather equals and 

 sometimes exceeds the second ; these last are also somewhat Ilawk-like in the structure of their feet, and in 

 their manners. The division of Kestrel-falcons (termed Cerchntis by Boie) comprehends Birds of weaker 

 structure, which have the sternum proportionally smaller ; in some the front of the tarsi is scutellated, as in 

 the short-winged Hawks : the Kestrel-Falcons prey chietly on field-mice, which they discern as they hover 

 stationary at a moderate altitude, with the head invariably turued towards the wind; it is thus that they have 

 obtained the names of Wind-hover and of >S'fajid-(/all or "stand-gale:" there are several species, two only of 

 which inhabit Europe — the comnmn Kestrel (F. tinnuncului,, Lin.), and the White-clawed Kestrel (F. cenc/iris, 

 Frisch. and Naum ; F. tinnunculoides, Tem.}. 



The division HtcrofalcOy Cuv., was instituted by mistake, for the reception of the Jer Falcon, under the suppo- 

 sition that its beak had only a festoon, as in the short-winged Hawks ; the tooth of these Birds being sometimes 

 cutaway by the falconers. Gampsont/x, Vigors, however, fulfils nearly the conditions which were assigned to 

 Ilierofalco ; the upper mandible being devoid even of emargination, and considerably resembling that of the 

 Buzzards : the head is small, feet and tarsi robust, the latter feathered half-way from the joint ; wings the same 

 as in Falco : one species only is known, a bird of small size from Brazil (G. Swainsonii, Vig.). 



Other species (the lerax. Vigors), of very small size, have the second and third quill-feathers nearly equal ; the 

 upper mandible strongly and sharply bidentated, by the further developenient of a sinuation visible in the rest. 

 Two species are known, from Java and Manilla respectively, (F. cceridescens, Edwards, and /, erythrogenys, 

 Vig.) — They are scarcely larger than a Swallow, but yield to none in energy and sjfirit ; their wings, however, are 

 less firm than in other Falcons. 



There are some bideutate species, which in other respects accord more nearly with the Goshawks : 

 they are 



The Harpagon's {IlarpaguSy Vig.; Biden^s, Spix), — 



Which present an acute bidentatiou of both mandibles, and have hitherto been found only in South 

 America. 



The best known species {F. hidentatus, Latham) is figured in the adult state by Spix as Bidens rufiventer, and 

 in immature plumage as B. albiventer. 



Others more nearly approximate the Perns, as 



The Falcoperns {Lepidogenys, Gould), — 

 The wings of which are remarkably long, having tbe third quill longest ; feet ver^' short, and the talons 

 small and but slightly curved : the bidentation is less strongly marked than in the preceding. 



F. IqphoteSf Tem., an elegantly-crested bird from India, and another from Australia — X. subcristatus, Gould, 

 pertain to this division. Nearly alhed would seem to be the Aviceda, Swains., from Western Africa ; except that 

 its armature is considerably more powerful.] The Baza of Hodgson is probably identical with Lepidogenys. 



The second section of the great genus Falco is that of the Birds of prey termed lynohle, because they 

 cannot be so well employed in falconry ; a trilje much more numerous than that of the Nobles, and 

 which it is necessary to subdivide considerably. Their longest quill-feather is almost always the fourth, 

 the first being very short, which has the same effect as if the tip of the wing had been obhquely cut 

 off; hence, cteter is paribus, result diminished powers of flight. Their beak, also, is not so well armed, 

 as there is no lateral tooth near its point, but only a shght festoon about the middle of its length. 



The Eagles {Aquila, Bnsson), — • 



"Which form the first tribe, have a very strong beak, straight at its base, and curved only towards the 



point. Among them we find the largest species of the genus, and the most powerful of all the 



Birds of prey. 



The Eagles, properly so called {Aquila, Cuv.) — 



Have the tarsi feathered down to the base of the toes : they inhabit moyntains, and pursue Birds and 



Quadrupeds ; their wings are as long as the tail, theii- flight both elevated and rapid, and their courage 



superior to that of most other Birds. 



