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ALLENS NATURALISTS LIBRARY. 
as they are American and African, but the Long-legged Hawks 
concern us, as representatives of the principal genera are found 
in Great Britain, and constitute the fir=t Sub-iamily of our true 
Raptores, or Birds of Prey. 
THE LONG-LEGGED HAWKS. SUB-FAMILY 
ACCIPITRIN2E. 
In these birds the membrane between the toes exists only 
at the base of the outer and middle toes, which are joined 
together by a web. The tibia is very long, as well as the 
tarsus, and these two portions of the leg are about equal in 
length, whereas in Buzzards, Eagles, and Falcons the tibia 
is conspicuously longer than the tarsus. The Long-legged 
Hawks comprise the Harriers, Goshawks, and Sparrow- 
Hawks of Europe, as well as many tropical forms, such as 
the Gymiiogenes of Africa {Polylioroides), curious reptile- 
eating Hawks, apparently distant relations of the Secretary- 
Bird, but not so powerful as the latter bird, which is a 
ground-loving and walking species, whereas the Gymnogene 
is forest-loving and arboreal in its ways It has, moreover, 
the curious faculty, not yet discovered in the Secretary, which 
is a weak-kneed individual from all accounts, of being able 
to turn its leg backwards or forwards at will by an apparent 
dislocation of the tibio-tarsal joint, an advantage in the catch- 
ing of reptiles which is said to be shared by its relative, the 
American genus Geranospizias. To this section of the Birds 
of Prey belong also the Chanting-Goshawks (Melierax) of 
Africa. 
THE HARRIERS. GENUS CIRCUS. 
Circus, Lacep. Mem. de ITnst. Paris, iii. p. 506 (1806). 
Type, C. cyaneus (L.). 
The Harriers are as nearly as possible cosmopolitan birds. 
They do not extend very far north, and affecting, as they do, 
localities suited to their mode of life, they are absent from 
some of the forest-clad regions of both Hemispheres. There 
is not, however, a single continent that is without its Harrier, 
and these birds are found in North and South America, Africa, 
