248 
DIURNAL BIRDS OF PREY. 
marked, except on the head and throat, with narrow black bars. The large beak 
is pale blue, the cere and naked portion of the face are normally carmine-red, and 
the legs and feet yellow. Under certain conditions naked portions of the face 
may, however, assume a pale 
colour. In northern South 
America, as well as in Central 
America and southern North 
America, together with Cuba and 
Trinidad, there occurs the rather 
smaller Audubon’s caracara (P. 
cheriway ); and a third species 
(P. lutosus ) characterises the 
island of Guadaloupe. Although 
largely carrion-eaters, these birds 
will attack living prey, the 
Brazilian species sometimes ven¬ 
turing to encounter the skunk. 
In North America they generally 
nest in cabbage-palms. 
Falkland Island This species 
Caracara. (Ibycter australis), 
which is represented in the 
upper figure of our illustration, 
may be taken as a well-known 
example of the second genus, 
in which the nostrils are circular, and most of the species of considerably 
smaller dimensions that the last. This bird attains a total length of 25 inches, 
and has its plumage of a general black hue. The nape and neck are, however, 
marked with streaks of white ; and there are also similar white markings on the 
throat and chest, which on the abdomen pass into minute spots. The quills are 
dark brown, with lighter tips, and the black tail has a broad white band at the 
end. The feathers on the inner surfaces of the thighs are tawny; the cere and 
feet are yellow; the greater part of the beak is yellowish, and the iris brown. 
This species is restricted to the Falkland Islands, and is replaced in the Amazon 
districts and some adjacent parts of South America by the black caracara (I. ater ), 
which is a much smaller bird, measuring only 16 inches in length, and character¬ 
ised by the whole plumage, with the exception of a white band across the base of 
the tail, being black, with greenish reflections. Agreeing in size with the black 
caracara is the very differently-coloured bird known as the chimachima (P chima- 
chima), of which an immature example is represented in the lower figure of our 
illustration. This caracara ranges from Brazil northwards of the tropic, through 
Colombia into Panama. In the adult the prevailing colour may be said to be white ; 
a streak from the eye towards the back of the head, the back, wings, and tail being 
mainly dark brown, with lighter margins to many of the feathers. The first four 
primary quills are white with dark markings in the middle of their length, while 
the remainder are yellowish white at the base, with dark brown tips. The tail- 
BRAZILIAN CARACARA. 
