OF ORNITHOLOGY 2!> 



with the soft fluff of the plumage ; everywhere characterize 

 these birds. An Owl is an Owl, and could seldom be mis- 

 taken for any other bird. 



Sub-order 2 ACCIPITRES or Hawks etc 



Latin accipiter, a general name for birds of prey. 

 The Hawks and their allies are rather harder to character- 

 ize than the Owls, yet their peculiarities are none the less per- 

 sistent : Only an occasional disc, and that an imperfect one ; 

 eye, though not large, fierce and fearless ; stiff feathers do not 

 hide the base of the bill ; cere entirely surrounding the nos- 

 tril openings ; tomia of upper mandible seldom if ever with- 

 out notch or lobe of some kind, be it never so faint ; toes sel- 

 dom if ever retractile ; legs seldom feathered, and toes never ; 

 whole plumage more or less tough and roughened. 



Sub-order 3 CATHARTIDES or Vultures 



Greek kathartes, one who purifies. 

 Were this sub-order merged in that of the Hawks, etc., the 

 distinctions between (1) and (2) would be mainly by the pres- 

 ence or absence of positive or negative characters ; as it is, 

 they are separated from (1) easily enough, from (2) as follows : 

 feet weak, long, more or less blunt ; hind toe as also its claw 

 short, and elevated above the others somewhat ; toes not re- 

 tractile, front ones webbed at base ; nostrils open from one 

 side of bill to the other ; bill long and little curved, not 

 toothed at tip ; head more or less naked. 



ORDER V COLUMBAE 



Latin columba, a dove or pigeon. 

 This is another of the small yet very decided orders, seem- 

 ingly marked out almost exclusively for birds of the dove and 

 the pigeon families. It would be useless to define its sub- 

 orders as but a single one exists in North America. The or- 

 der is the same as the Pullastr^e of old authors [with the 

 addition, perhaps, of the Texan Gtjan], In characters it 

 has bill without cere, naked at base but with a distended 



