( 15 ) 
ORDER I. ACCIPITRES. 
FAMILIES. 
1. DlURNiE. 
Nostrils inserted in a 3 toes before ; 1 be- Eyes directed side- 
naked cera. Fig. 18. hind witbout feathers, ways. 
2. NoCTURNi?:. 
Nostrils pierced at External toe turned Large eyes directed 
the anterior edge of a behind at pleasure. frontways, 
cera, covered more or 
less with stiflP hairs, p. 27» 
The Biurnas have their eyes directed sideways ; a membrane 
called cera covering the base of the beak, in which the nostrils 
are pierced; three toes before, one behind without feathers; the 
two external toes almost always united at their base by a short 
membrane ; their plumage close ; their pens strong ; their flight 
powerfid ; their stomach almost entirely membranous ; their in- 
testines little extended ; their caicum very short ; their sternum 
large and completely ossified, to afford a more extended surface 
for the attachment of the muscles of the wing ; and their furcula 
semi-circular, and very much widened, the better to resist the 
violent depressions of the humeri, necessary to a rapid flight. 
Linnaeus made but two Genera of them^ which are two natural 
divisions, the Vultures and the Falcons, (i) 
The Nocturnm have a large head, very large eyes, directed 
forwards, encircled by a ring of fme feathers, the anterior of 
(1) I extract the following addenda from M. Temminck's description 
of this order, in his Manuel Ornithologle, after Bechstein, Meyer, 
and his own super!) collection, universally allowed to be the first in 
Europe. 
" Beak compressed; nostrils open; toes rough underneath; nails 
pointed. These birds live in monogamy; they nest on inaccessible 
rocks, or very high trees ; the number of their eggs never exceeds six. 
Their food consists entirely of living, or very rarely of dead prey, which 
they swallow in pieces enveloped in the hairs or feathers, these sub- 
stances, as well as the hones, forming a ball in the stomach, and being 
rejected by the mouth ; they eat copiously when an opportunity pre- 
sents itself, but they can fast several days; the blood of their victims is 
sufficient to quench their thirst. The female is generally a third larger 
in size than the male." Diimeril observes that the male birds of thisr 
Order never sit ou the eggs, but nourish the female while she does so. 
