170 AYES. 



Thf Asturixes {Asturina, Vieillot) — 

 Have lieen gt'iiri'ally placcil next. Tlicy have the nostrils lunulated ; the bill straight at its base; 

 wings short, and tlie tarsi also sliort and somewhat slender. 

 A. cincrea, Vieillot, a species from Guiana, may be cited in exenii'lification.] 



The Hawks {Jsfur, Berhstein ; DiPt/a/ion, Savigny), — 

 \\'liich form the second division of tlie Ignohlcs, have wings shorter than tlie tail, as in the last three 

 tribes of Kagles ; but tlieir hoak curves from its base, as in all that follow. 



The Goshawks {Astur, as restricted) — 

 Have the tarsi [more distinctly] scutellatcd, and comparatively short. 



The European Goshawk [F. paUimbarius, Lin.)> equals the Jer Falcon in size, but always stoops ohlinupiy on j s 

 quarry. Falconers, however, sometimes use it for the weaker kinds of g'amc. It is common in the hilly and 

 secondary mountain rang;es of Europe. 



Amonn; foreip;n Goshawks, we may notjre that of New Holland {F. Norte IIoUondl<c, AVhite), ^vhirh is often 

 entirety snow-white ; but it appears tliat these white individuals constitute a variety only of a bird of the same 

 country, pale asli-coloured above, white below, with vestig'es of pale undulations. 



AVc may approximate to the Goshawk certain American Birds, with short wings and tarsi, the latter 

 reticulated. [These are 



The NrcAGUAS {Iferpethofheres, Vieilhjt ; Dipdalion, Vigors), — ■ 

 A btmngly characterized division, interesting, as iiresenting evidently a modification of the peculiar 

 Osprey type, to which genus they alone appear to be allied. It is particularly desirable, therefore, that 

 their anatomy should be ascertained.] 



The Xicafl;ua of Azara, or Laughing Falcon, (F. cachinnans, Lin.) : so named from its en'- From the marshes of 

 South America, where it preys on reptiles and fish. [Its colouring, and the texture of its plumage, arc the same 

 as in the Osprey ; and it has similar short feathers on the tibia. F. me/anopxy Lath, and F. snjflatuf, Lin., apper- 

 tain to this division ; the latter, however, constituting the restricted Physeta of Vieillot.] 



The SfARR0W-HAWf:s {Nims, Cuv. ; [AccipUer, Ray]) — ■ 

 Have longer and more slemler tarsi than the Goshawks, [still shorter wings, and the middle toe much 

 lengthened] ; but the passage from one to the other of these divisions is almost insensible. 



Our common Sparrow-hawk {F. visits, Lin.) has the same colouring as the Goshawk, but is much less in size ; 

 rotwitlistanding which it is employed in falconry. There are foreign species still smaller ; but also some that are 

 much larger, as 



The Chauntin;j: Hawk (F. mu.sims, Daud.),— a native of Africa, where it pursues P:irtrid,L;cs and Hares, and 

 builds in trees. It is the oidy bird of prey known that sings agreealily, [by which, however, cannot be meant that 

 it inflects the voice, as in those Passerine Birds which ha\'e additional laryngeal muscles. This bird. — and there is 

 more than one species here confounded, — has a nmch weaker bill, and longer wings, than the true S]iarrow-liawks ; 

 it has probably been made the type of a separate division. 



The r/'vmH0<7e«'/.y of Vieillot may also be introduced licre. It is a Hawk with \'Giy Ions; wings, lemrthened and 

 distinctly scutellated tarsi, and short toes, but the nio.st distinctive character of which consists in its being naked 

 above the bill and on the cheeks. The only species, G. madagascariensis, is grey, with round black spots on the 

 wings, and the lower parts below the breast transversely rayed : it boars some resemblance to the Secretai-y. 



The species of Hawks displays the maximum sexual disparity of size, in favour of the female.] • 



The Kites {Mihms, Bechst.) — 

 Have short tarsi, and feeble toes and ehaw^s, which, added to a beak equally disproportioncd to their 

 size, render theni the most cowardly of the whole group: they are further distinguished by their 

 excessively lung wings, and by their forked tail, in consequence of which their flight is very swift 

 and easy. 



Some have tiie tarsi very short, reticulated, and half-feathered above, like the last small tribe uf 

 Eagles : [their claws, save that on the middle toe, are rounded underneath]. Such are 



The Elanets (Elaniis, Savigny). 



The BlfLck-winKed Elanet {F. welano/drnif;, J)Rn\\.}; a common species from Egypt to the Cape, and which 

 appears to be found in India, ami even in America. [The American and New liollaiul spi;cies an.' distinct.] 

 Insects are almost its sole prey. 



The S\>allow-tailed Glede {F. fi/rcatu.'i-, Lin.).— Larger than the jireceding, [with winp,-s excessively Inn;;-, and tail 



