Bill short, stout, cerate; upper mandible with the tip elongated and
decurved; lower mandible rounded and thin-edged at the end. Head
rather large, broadly ovate, feathered. Eyes large, with prominent
superciliary ridges. External aperture of ears of moderate size, and
simple. Tarsus longer than the middle toe; claws very large, much
curved, extremely acute. Plumage full and generally compact. Wings
very long and broad. Œsophagus excessively wide and dilated into a
crop; stomach large, somewhat membranous, its muscular fasciculi being
placed in a single series; intestine short and rather wide, or very
long and slender; cœca extremely small. The young, when fledged,
generally having the lower parts longitudinally streaked. Eggs from
two to six, ovate, or roundish. Nest on trees, rocks, or the ground.
GENUS I. POLYBORUS, Vieill. CARACARA.
Bill large, high, rather long, much compressed; cere large, covered
with hair-like feathers; upper outline convex and declinate to the
edge of the cere, then decurved; edge of upper mandible slightly
arched and nearly even, tip of lower compressed and rounded. Nostrils
elliptical, oblique, in the anterior part of the cere near the ridge.
Eyelids and space anterior to the eye denuded, as is the skin over the
crop. Feet rather long; tarsi anteriorly scutellate, sharp-edged and
scaly behind; toes rather long, broadly scutellate, the first much
shorter than the second; claws long, little curved, that of the middle
toe being only slightly arched. Wings long, rounded, the third and
fourth quills longest, the first five having the inner web cut out.
Tail rather long, rounded.
4. 1. Polyborus Braziliensis, Gmel. Brazilian Caracara.--Caracara
Eagle.
Plate CLXI. Young.
Adult with the upper part of the head and nape brownish-black, the
throat and ear-coverts yellowish-white; the upper parts finely barred
with brown and dull white, the rump and tail lighter, the latter with
a large terminal brown band; the lower parts similarly barred with
reddish-white and brown. Young with the upper part of the head brown,
streaked with dusky, the hind neck and part of the breast pale
yellowish-red longitudinally variegated with brown; the middle of the
back, scapulars, wing-coverts and secondaries dark brown, as are the
hind part of the breast and the tibiæ; the tail nearly as in the
adult.
_Male_, 23-1/2, 48.
Texas and Florida. Resident.
Caracara Eagle Polyborus vulgaris, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. ii. p.
350; v. v. p. 351.
GENUS II. BUTEO, Bechst. BUZZARD.
Bill short, with the upper outline nearly straight and declinate to
the edge of the cere, then decurved, the sides rapidly sloping, the
edges with a slight festoon, the tip trigonal, acute; lower mandible
with the dorsal line convex and ascending, the edges arched, at the
end deflected, the tip rounded. Head large, roundish, flattened above.
Nostrils, obovate, nearer the ridge than the margin. Neck rather
short. Body full. Feet short, robust; tarsi roundish, anteriorly
feathered half-way down, and scutellate, posteriorly also scutellate;
toes of moderate length, scaly for half their length; claws long,
arched, compressed, acuminate. Plumage full and rather blended. Space
between the bill and eye covered with bristly feathers. Wings long,
broad, the fourth quill longest, the first and seventh or eighth about
equal; the first four abruptly cut out on the inner web. Tail rather
long, broad, slightly rounded. Cere and feet yellow; bill light blue
at the base, black at the tip, in all the American species.