234 FALCON. 



bright, and piercing ; nostrils large, beset with hairs on each side of 

 the bill ; neck thick; the back, wings, and tail brown, spotted with 

 black, and variegated with whitish, or yellowish streaks; belly 

 white, the feathers very soft, and equal in elegance to those of an 

 Egret ; legs naked, scaly, and reddish ; claws black, crooked, and 

 of the leno'th of the middle linuer. 



This elegant and beautiful bird, is chiefly found about the 

 banks of the river Amazons; generally inhabits lofty mountains, and 

 builds the nest on the highest trees, constructing it of the bones of 

 the animals it has slaughtered, and some dry branches of trees, bind- 

 ing them together with the stems of climbers; lays two or three 

 white eggs, spotted with reddish brown ; flies with such rapidity, 

 and such is the expanse of wings, that it sometimes strikes, and kills 

 its prey with them, before it touches it with the claws ; is able to 

 tear a sheep in pieces, and sometimes attacks mankind, but its prin- 

 cipal food consists of monkies, particularly those called Guariba.* 



172.-TYIlxiKT EAGLE. 



Falco Tyranmis, Maxim. Tr. i. S17. 



LENGTH 26in. 7lines. Feathers at the back of the head 

 lengthened into a crest and erect; hind parts of the head and neck, 

 sides of the neck, and upper parts of the back covered with white 

 feathers, tipped Avith dark brown, but lie over each other, so that the 

 white is covered ; the rest of the bird dark brown ; larger wing 



* Simia Beelzebub — Lin. 



