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The Brahminy Kite ( Haliastur intermedins), India. 
The White Goshawk (Astur novce-hollandice ) Australia. 
The Spotted Eagle ( Aquila ncevia), Europe and Asia. 
Golden Eagle ( Aquila chryscetos ), North America. 
The Bald Eagle (. Haliaetus leucocephalus ), North America. 
All the above belong to the order JRaptores , or birds of 
prey, consisting of the owls or nocturnal birds of prey 
\Strigidce); the eagles, hawks, &c., or diurnal birds of prey 
(.Falconida ) ; and the vultures ( Vulturidce ). 
The Owls are a large family, mainly of nocturnal habits, 
their eyes being adapted in structure to see in the dark, and 
the soft, downy plumage with which they are generally 
clothed, enabling them to steal with noiseless flight upon the 
small birds, mammals, and reptiles which form their food. 
They range generally throughout the world, differing some¬ 
what in habit, but mostly in size. 
The American Barn Owl is one of the most curious of the 
group. It abounds in the Southern States, and is frequently 
found as far north as New Jersey. 
The large White or Snowy Owl is common to the more 
northern parts of both hemispheres. It moves somewhat 
south in winter, rarely getting below the latitude of New 
York. 
The coloration of the owls is generally indistinct, owing to 
the downy nature of their plumage, and is subject to an infi¬ 
nite amount of variation. 
A large number of American species belong to the family 
Falconidce. 
The Buzzards proper are a group of hawks, generally of 
large size and rather heavy flight. The Eagles are closely 
associated with this division. The Golden Eagle and the 
Bald Eagle are occasionally seen in all parts of the country, 
though, they are now somewhat rare along the Atlantic coast, 
and for a long distance into the interior. They are the only 
eagles properly belonging to the North American fauna, 
although as the Bald Eagle does not receive its white head 
and tail until its third year, its different stages of plumage 
have given rise to several vernacular names by which it is 
known. 
Dr. Elliott Coues sums up the distribution and character of 
this species in his “ Key to North American Birds” after the 
following descriptive manner :— 
