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The Birds of Prey. 
in close proximity, and in North America as many as three hundred pairs have been 
found breeding together. The Osprey is a bird of very fine flight, and it circles 
over the water in graceful curves, occasionally hovering like a Kestrel, and dropping 
like a stone when it perceives a fish. The nest is a huge structure of sticks, and 
is built on a tree or on a ruined building in an inland lake. The eggs are two or three 
in number and are beautifully marked with red and purple blotches on a white ground : 
they measure about two-and-a-half inches in length. 
None of the members of this Sub-Order, which includes the 
I HE FALCONS. remainder of the Birds of Prey, viz., the Vultures, the Hawks, 
, , Harriers, Buzzards, Eagles, Kites, and Falcons, have a reversible 
FALCONLS. . 
outer toe, but, like the Ospreys, all these birds have the eyes 
placed laterally in the head and not directed forwards : in every case likewise a 
more or less distinct ‘ cere,’ the bare or wax-like base to the bill, is present. The 
Falcones may be divided into two great Families, the Vultures ( Vulturida ) and 
the Falcons ( Falconidir ). The latter are divided into several Sub-families, the 
Accipitrince (Long-legged Hawks), the Aquilinw ( Buzzards, Eagles, and Kites) 
and the F alconina: (Falcons). 
The Egyptian Scavenger Vulture. 
The Griffon Vulture. 
Although the Griffon is believed to have been seen on more 
than one occasion in England, the only authentic instance ot its 
capture within the British area is that of a young bird caught 
by a boy on the rocks near Cork Harbour in the spring ot 1843. 
It is a bird of the Mediterranean region and especially of Northern Africa. It makes 
THE GRIFFON 
VULTURE. 
(Gyps fulvus.) 
