﻿300 ON THE CLASSIFICATION OP BIRDS. 



are described as particularly short, and the nails small 

 and but slightly curved : these characters, joined with 

 its elegant pendent crest, places it at once as an aberrant 

 type in this group ; while the latter characteristic leads 

 us strongly to suspect it is the representative of the 

 crested eagles and the gallinaceous birds. We saw 

 this remarkable bird when in Paris ; but, from the case 

 which contained it not being made to open at pleasure, 

 we were disappointed in giving it a critical examination. 

 The same obstacle was probably experienced by M. 

 Temminck, which may account for the imperfection of 

 his description : the bird, however, is of too remarkable 

 a type to be confounded with any other, except, perhaps, 

 with one we have received from Western Africa, and 

 to which we have given the name of Aviceda. This 

 subgenus, for as such we consider it, appears to follow 

 that of Lophotes : both have the bills bidentate ; both 

 have remarkably long wings, and short tarsi : but the 

 bill of Aviceda is much more powerful, while the feet 

 are stout, and the claws strong and well curved. In the 

 structure of its feet it differs from all the falcons we 

 have yet examined. The tarsus is not longer than the 

 hind toe and claw, and, from being feathered for more 

 than half its length, it appears even shorter : the sole 

 of the foot is remarkably broad, and is entirely destitute 

 of those prominent callous pads which belong to Falco, 

 Harpagus, and most of the hawks. Unlike all these 

 genera, the inner toe is decidedly longer than the outer ; 

 so that the bird, in fact, may be said to have the feet 

 and wings of Cyminidis, with the bill of Harpagus and 

 Lophotes : it is a falcon in the disguise of a kite, — as 

 such, at least, we view it ; and, by placing it next 

 Lophotes, its station in the circle actually confirms this 

 analogy. The fifth type alone remains undetermined ; 

 for we have not, as yet, met with any bird whose struc- 

 ture appears sufficiently marked to make us feel any 

 degree of confidence in its holding this station. Judging 

 by theory, and presuming that Lophotes is the rasorial 

 type, this, which we now require, would be the fissi- 



