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ON THE CLASSIFICATION OF BIRDS. 



which exhibits all those distinctions by which nature 

 has marked this group as the flssirostral type of the 

 whole family. We shall not, however, alter a designa- 

 tion so well known as that of Buzzard, particularly as 

 it does not affect the scientific nomenclature, and as the 

 henharriers are sometimes called also by that general 

 appellation common to the whole division. Of all the lead- 

 ing divisions we have now gone through, this is one of the 

 most strongly marked in its typical characters, and the 

 least understood in its aberrant forms. The genus 

 Circus is unquestionably the pre-eminent type of the 

 whole, while the Buteo lagopus appears to stand next 

 in rank. To these, therefore, we shall first direct our 

 attention. The peculiar habits of the henharriers form- 

 ing the subgenus Circus, have been already sufficiently 

 noticed, and we shall now see that their structure is no 

 less peculiar. Independent of their slender body and 

 very long members, under which we include both wings, 

 feet, and tail, they may be readily known to an ordinary 

 observer by their large ears, partially surrounded by a 

 ruff of short and rather stiff feathers, which form a semi- 

 circle round the outer portion of the head on each side, 

 and which meet under the chin. The bill is compar- 

 atively small, unusually elevated at the base (fig. 107.), 



but very narrow and feeble towards its outer half. Now 

 these two characters, unknown in any other falconine 

 group, are precisely those which are prevalent among 

 the owls ; and they establish the important fact, that the 



