58 



AVE S. 



ORDER I. RAPACE.E.* 



Beak bent at the extremity ; upper mandible dilated on 

 each side, or armed with a tooth ; feet robust, short, with 

 three toes before and one behind, armed with claws gene- 

 rally sharp; sternum without lateral slopes. The species 

 comprised under this head are voracious and cruel ; they are 

 among Birds, what the Carnivora are among Quadrupeds ; 

 they live on prey or carrion, and construct their nests, called 

 eyries, in elevated places ; lay generally three or four eggs ; 

 they are monogamous. Two families. 



FAMILY I. DIURNAL BIRDS. 



Head compressed laterally ; eyes situated at the sides ; 

 toes without feathers; exterior toe always directed to the 

 front, and most frequently united by its base to the middle 

 toe by the aid of a small membrane ; nostrils pierced in a 

 membrane called the cera ; stomach almost altogether mem- 

 branous ; intestines short. Three tribes. 



Tribe I. Vultur, Lin. Vultures. 



Eyes even with the head ; the tarsi reticulated, that is to 

 say, covered with small scales; an elongated beak curved 

 only at the end ; a greater or less portion of the head and 

 neck divested of feathers; wings so long that in walking 

 they hold them half extended ; talons feeble in proportion to 

 their size. Four genera. 



Genus Vultur, Cuv. Vulture proper. 



Head and neck naked ; collar of long feathers and down 

 at the root of the neck ; beak large and strong ; nostrils dis- 

 posed transversely at its base ; no caruncles (a kind of fleshy 

 excrescence). [Old Continent.] 



Genus Sarcoramphus, Dum. 



Base of the beak surmounted with caruncles ; nostrils oval 

 and longitudinal. [America only.] 



* Birds of prey. 



