2(32 



MUSEUM OF ANIMATED NATURE. 



[Eagles. 



are many which have neither the bold bearing nor 

 the ferocity and great powers of the genuine eagles, 

 represented by the golden eagle or the harpy. Some 

 form a series of intervening links between the eagles 

 and the buzzards and kites, while others appear to 

 hold an intermediate station between the eagles and 

 the vultures. Among the latter may be instanced 

 the liimmergeyer, which various writers, according 

 to their different views, assigned to the vultures on 

 the one hand or to the eagles on the other. Storr, 

 a naturalist of great eminence, rescued it from the 

 intermediate situation in which it previously stood, 

 and founded for its reception a new genus, to which 

 he gave the title of Gypaetus (yW, a vulture : «s<™>, 

 an eagle), thereby alluding to its intermediate situ- 

 ation, though it still, in our opinion, comes within 

 the pale of the Aquiline family. The characters of 

 the genus are these : — head and neck clothed with 

 feathers ; nostrils covered with bristly hairs, which 

 form a sort of pendent tuft or beard ; bill elongated 

 and hooked ; tarsi short, and feathered to the toes, 

 which are of considerable strength, and armed with 

 sharp but slightly curved talons. 



The liimmergeyer, or, as it is sometimes called, the 

 bearded vulture, which equals or exceeds the largest 

 eagle in size, is found throughout the whole of the 

 great mountain-chains of the Old World, being in 

 fact very widely dispersed. It occurs in the Py- 

 renees, and in the Alps of Germany and Switzer- 

 land, where it is notorious for its destructiveness 

 among the lambs and kids which are fed on the 

 greenslopes of the lower ranges. 



The intermediate situation assigned to the lam- , 

 mergeyer, and which is aptly expressed in the gene- 

 ric appellation Gypaetus, is clearly indicated in its 

 form and general habits. Of a powerful and robust 

 make, it. has neither the bill nor the talons of the 

 eagle, the former being elongated, and hooked only 

 at the tip, and the latter comparatively small ; yet 

 it. prefers to prey on victims which it has itself de- 

 stroyed, or upon the flesh of animals recently 

 slaughtered, and unless hard pressed by hunger re- 

 jects putrid carrion, the favourite repast of the vul- 

 ture. The eagle bears off his prey; the liimmer- 

 geyer, unless disturbed, or providing for its young, 

 seldom attempts to remove it, but devours it on the 

 spot. Attracted by the carcass of some unfortunate 

 animal which has recently perished among the ra- 

 vines of the mountains, a number of these birds 

 gradually congregate to share the booty, and gorge, 

 like the vulture, to repletion. The liimmergeyer 

 attacks hares, lambs, kids, and the weak and sickly 

 of the flocks with great ferocity ; the strong-limbed 

 chamois is not. secure, nor, when rendered desperate 

 by hunger, will the ravenous bird forbear an attack 

 on man. Children, indeed, are said to have often 

 fallen sacrifices to its rapacity. Young or small 

 animals are easily destroyed, for, though elongated, 

 the beak is hard and strong, and well adapted for 

 lacerating the victim; but larger animals, instead 

 of being at once grappled with, are, as it is said, in- 

 sidiously assaulted while upon the edge of some 

 precipice or steep declivity, the bird unexpectedly 

 sweeping upon them with fury, and hurrying them 

 into thelibyss, down which it plunges to glut its ap- 

 petite. As illustrative of the boldness of the liim- 

 mergeyer, Bruce relates that, attracted by the pre- 

 parations for dinner, which his servants were making 

 on the summit of a lofty mountain, a bearded 

 vulture "slowly made his advances to the party, 

 and at length fairly seated himself within the ring 

 they had formed. The affrighted natives ran for 

 their lances and shields, and the bird, after an inef- 

 fectual attempt to abstract a portion of their meal 

 from the boiling water, seized a large piece in each 

 of his talons from a platter that stood by, and car- 

 ried them off slowly along the ground as he came." 

 Returning in a few minutes for a second freight, he 

 was shot. 



There is little in the general aspect of this bird to 

 remind one of the vulture, and yet the character of 

 the head and the general contour of the body are 

 strikingly different from those of the ea^le : there 

 is a want of dignity and quiet grandeur in its atti- 

 tude, and the glance of its small red eye, though 

 'keen and cruel, is deficient in that expression of 

 •daring and resolution which we admire in the 

 feathered' monarch. The bristly beard which de- 

 pends from the lower mandible, tends also to give 

 a peculiar character to its physiognomy. Of the 

 nidification of the lammergeyer little is ascertained, 

 except that it selects the most inaccessible pinnacles, 

 as the site of its eyrie. Pallas states that it is known 

 to breed on the high rocks of the great Altaic chain, 

 and beyond the lake Baikal. 



The eggs are two in number, marked with brown 

 blotches on a white ground. 



In length this extraordinary bird measures about 

 four feet from the bill to the end of the tail, and 

 from nine to ten in the expanse of its wings. 

 Larger admeasurements have been given by various 

 writers, which are probably exaggerated — none of 

 the numerous specimens which we have seen ex- 



ceeding our statement. The tarsi are short and al- 

 most hidden by the feathers of the thighs; the iris 

 is bright red ; the wings are ample, the second and 

 third quill-feathers being the longest; the tail is 

 graduated : the head is clothed with feathers, and 

 from the sides of the under mandible proceeds a row 

 of black bristles, which form a beard or pencil at its 

 angle, and a layer of similar bristles, beginning at 

 the eye, covers the nostrils. The general colour of 

 the upper surface is dark greyish brown, the centre 

 of each feather having a longitudinal dash of white. 

 The neck and the whole of the under surface are 

 white, tinted with reddish brown. The young 

 birds are daxker in the general hue of their plumage 

 than the adult, and the white spots are larger and 

 less defined ; in this stage it has been mistaken for 

 a distinct species. 



The flight of the liimmergeyer, as its great bodily 

 powers, its ample wings and tail, sufficiently indi- 

 cate, is sweeping and majestic. It sails round the 

 Alpine summits, whence it marks its quarry from 

 afar, and collecting all its energies for the onset, 

 glides like an arrow upon its prey. If, however, it 

 be lured from its aerial altitude by the carcass of 

 some animal, it no longer emulates the eagle in its 

 pounce, but calmly descending to some neighbour- 

 ing crag, it then sets out, flying with heavy wings, 

 at a short distance from the ground, towards its re- 

 past, to be joined by others of its species. 



It would appear that in Europe this noble bird 

 was formerly much more common than at present. 

 It was once, as M. Temminck remarks, abundant on 

 all the high mountains of Tyrol, Switzerland, 

 and Germany, various hunters in the eighteenth 

 century having killed their forty, fifty, or sixty liim- 

 mergeyers. The chasseur Andreas Dumer had 

 killed sixty with his own hand. In Sardinia it is 

 still far from being rare. Specimens have been re- 

 ceived from the north of Africa, and also from the 

 Cape of Good Hope, differing in no respect from 

 individuals belonging to the European Alps. 



It occurs in the lofty mountains of Central Africa, 

 and towards the borders of the Red Sea; and in 

 Asia, tenants the chain of the Caucasus, the Hima- 

 layan, Siberian, and Persian mountains. The liim- 

 mergeyer is the Avoltoio barbuto of the Italians ; and 

 the Weisskopfige Geier Adler of the Germans. Ac- 

 cording to Bruce, the Abyssinians call it Abou 

 Duch'n, or Father Longbeard. He figures it under 

 the title of Nisser, the Ethiopic for Eagle. 



Passing from the liimmergeyer, various other 

 aberrant forms, as the naturalist terms them, meet 

 our attention, and claim a few remarks: — of these 

 some are half vulturine in form as well as in habits. 



1221. — The Aquiline Ibycter 



(Ibycter aquiUnus). Head and foot. In the genus 

 Ibycter the beak is convex above ; the lower man- 

 dible notched at the apex and sub-acute ; the 

 cheeks, throat, and crop featherless; the claws 

 acute. 



The Aquiline Ibycter, the Petit Aigle d'Amerique 

 of Buffon, is a native of South America, but of its 

 peculiar habits we have no details. Gmelin regards 

 it. as the Red-throated Falcon of Latham. The 

 colours of this bird are well contrasted ; the beak is 

 cerulean blue ; the cere and feet are yellow ; the 

 iris is orange. The plumage above, deep blue ; 

 below, red passing into white : the feathers of the 

 neck are of a purplish tint inclining to rufous : the 

 claws are black. 



1222.— The Black Daptrius 



(Daptrius ater). Head and foot. It is not quite 

 clear that this bird is generically separable from the 

 preceding. The beak is shorter and stouter than in 

 Ibycter, and the tarsi longer, but in other respects 

 the characters closely correspond. They are evi- 

 dent links between the eagles, perhaps the sea or 

 fishing eagles, and the vultures. 



The present species is the Iribin noir of Vieillot ; 

 and the Caracara noir, Falco aterrimus of M. Tem- 

 minck. Back with bluish reflexions ; tail white at 

 its base and rounded ; beak and claws black ; cere 

 dusky; space round the eyes naked and flesh- 

 coloured; feet yellow. Length about seventeen 

 inches. 



1223. — The Brazilian Caracara or Carrancha 



(Polyborus BrasUiensis). Head and foot. The 

 generic characters of Polyborus are these :— Beak 

 compressed above, lower mandible entire and ob- 

 tuse ; cere large, and covered with hairs ; cheeks 

 and throat featherless ; crop woolly. 



The best account of the Caracara is given by Mr. 

 Darwin ('Voyages of the Adventure and Beagle,' 

 vol. hi.), who had many opportunities of observing 

 these birds in a state of nature, and whose delinea- 

 tion of their habits is very interesting:— Speaking 

 of the " Carrion Hawks," as he terms them, which 

 frequent the extra-tropical parts of South America, 

 he says. " the number, tameness, and disgusting 

 habits of these birds make them pre-eminently 



striking to anyone accustomed only to the birds of 

 Northern Europe. In this list may be included 

 four species of Caracara :— the Turkey Buzzard (a 

 vulture, Vultur aura); the Gallinazo (a vulture, 

 Cathartes atratus) ; and the Condor. 



" The caracaras are, from their structure, placed 

 among the eagles ; we shall soon see how ill they 

 become so high a rank. In their habits they well 

 supply the place of our carrion-crows, magpies, and 

 ravens, a tribe of birds totally wanting" in South 

 America. To begin with the Polyborus Brasilien- 

 sis. — This is a common bird, and has a wide geogra- 

 phical range ; it is most numerous on the grassy sa- 

 vannahs of La Plata where it goes by the name of 

 carrancha, and is far from un frequent through the. 

 sterile plains of Patagonia. In the desert between 

 the rivers Negro and Colorado numbers constantly 

 attended the line, of road to devour the carcasses of 

 the exhausted animals which chanced to perish from 

 fatigue and thirst. Although thus common in these 

 dry and open countries, and likewise on the arid 

 shores of the Pacific, it is nevertheless found inha- 

 biting the damp impervious forests of West Pata- 

 gonia and Tierra del Fuego. The carranchas, to- 

 gether with the Polyborus Chi mango, constantly 

 attend in numbers the estancias and slaughtering- 

 houses. If an animal dies on the plain, the galli- 

 nazo commences the feast, and then the two kinds 

 of caracara pick the bones clean. These birds, 

 though thus commonly feeding together, are far 

 from being friends. When the carrancha is quietly 

 seated on the braneh of a tree or on the ground, the 

 chimango often continues for a long time flying 

 backwards and forwards, up and down, in a semi- 

 circle, trying each time at the bottom of the curve 

 to strike its larger relative. The carrancha takes 

 little notice, except by bobbing its head. Although 

 the carranchas frequently assemble in numbers, they 

 are not gregarious, for in desert places they may be 

 seen solitary, or more commonly in pairs. " Besides 

 the carrion of large animals, these birds frequent, the 

 borders of streams and sea-beaches to pick up what- 

 ever the waters may cast ashore. In Tierra del 

 Fuego and on the west coast of Patagonia they must 

 exclusively live on such supplies. The carranchas 

 are said to be very crafty, and to steal great num- 

 bers of eggs. They attempt also, together with the 

 chimango, to pick off the scabs from the backs of 

 horses and mules. The poor animal on the one 

 hand, with its ears down, and its back arched, and, on 

 the other, the hovering bird eyeing at the distance 

 of a yard the disgusting morsel, form a picture which 

 has been described by Captain Head with his own 

 peculiar spirit aud accuracy. The carranchas kill 

 wounded animals : but Mr. Bynae saw one seize in 

 the air a live partridge (ortyx?), which escaped, and 

 was for some time chased on the ground. I believe 

 this circumstance is very unusual ; at ail events there 

 is no doubt that the chief part of their sustenance 

 is derived from carrion. A person will discover the 

 necrophagous habits of the carrancha by walking 

 out on one of the desolate plains and there lying 

 down to sleep. When he awakes, he will see on 

 each surrounding hillock one of these birds pa- 

 tiently watching him with an evil eye. It is a fea- 

 ture on the landscape of these countries which will 

 be recognised by every one who has wandered over 

 them. If a party goes out hunting with dogs and 

 horses, it will be accompanied during the day by 

 several of these attendants. After feeding, the un- 

 covered craw protrudes ; at such times, and indeed 

 generally, the carrancha is an inactive, tame, and 

 cowardly bird. Its flight is heavy and slow, like 

 that of an English rook. It seldom soars, but I have 

 twice seen one at great height gliding through the 

 air with much ease. It runs in contradistinction to 

 hopping, but not quite so quickly as some of its con- 

 geners. At times the carrancha is noisy, but 

 is not generally so ; its cry is loud, very harsh, and 

 peculiar, and may be likened to the sound of the 

 Spanish guttural g followed by a rough double r. 

 Perhaps the Gauchos from this cause have called it 

 carrancha. Molina, who states that it is called 

 Tharu in Chile, says that when uttering this cry it 

 elevates its head higher and higher, till at last, with 

 its beak wide open, the crown almost louches the 

 lower part of the back. This fact, which has been 

 doubted, is quite true. I have seen them several 

 times with their heads backwards in a completely 

 inverted position. The carrancha builds a large 

 coarse nest, either in a low cliff or in a bush or 

 lofty tree. To these observations, I may add, on the 

 high authority of Azara, that the carrancha feeds 

 on worms, shells, slugs, grasshoppers, and frogs; 

 that it destroys new-fallen lambs, and that it pursues 

 the gallinazo till that bird is compelled to disgorge 

 the carrion it may recently have swallowed. Lastly, 

 Azara states that several carranchas, five or six to- 

 gether, will unite in the chase of large birds, even 

 such as herons. All these facts show that it is a 

 bird of very versatile habits and considerable in- 

 genuity." 

 The caracara, or carrancha, measures about twenty- 



