temperate Asia, and nesting even in the Azores and {126}Kuril Islands,
winters in North Africa, India, Ceylon, Siam, China, and Japan, and wanders
to North America. The head is chestnut with a green eye-patch enclosed by a
buffish line, the upper parts are vermiculated with black and white, the
speculum is black, green, and purple with a whitish border, the chest is
buff with black spots, the under parts are white. _N. carolinense_ of North
America, which strays to Europe–including Britain, has a white crescent on
each side of the breast. _N. formosum_ of East Siberia, met with in winter
in China, and accidentally in India, Italy, and France, has the head varied
with black, green, buff, and white, a bluish wash on the back and chest, a
speculum of buff, green, and white. In these three species the female is
mottled with brown and rufous, and has a duller speculum. _N. castaneum_ of
Australia and New Zealand, recorded from Celebes and Java, the doubtful _N.
gibberifrons_ of the Malay Archipelago, _N. albigulare_ of the Andamans,
_N. bernieri_ of Madagascar, _N. capense_ of South and East Africa, _N.
flavirostre_ of America south of Southern Brazil and Chili, _N. andium_ of
Ecuador and Venezuela, _N. georgicum_ of South Georgia, _N. punctatum_ of
South and East Africa with Madagascar, _N. brasiliense_ of South America
generally, and _N. torquatum_ of Paraguay, Uruguay, and Argentina, complete
the genus. Teal are fresh-water Ducks, feeding chiefly at night on
water-plants, seeds, worms, and insects; they are rather silent, and have
not the rattling spring-note of the Garganey. The nest is in both cases
usually placed at some distance from water in grass, rushes, or heather,
the eight to ten eggs being greenish in the Teal and cream-coloured in the
Garganey.
_Mareca penelope_, the Wigeon, which breeds in Scotland, and ranges across
North Europe and Asia to Alaska, occurring in winter as far south as
Madeira, Abyssinia, Borneo, or even Polynesia, and occasionally on the
American coasts, has a rufous head with buff crown, blackish throat and
quill-feathers, white upper parts vermiculated with black, white
wing-coverts and lower surface, and a green speculum with a black edge. The
female is mottled with brown and rufous above, and has a grey-green
speculum, and buffish lower parts. This species, which has a whistling cry,
whence it is termed "Whew," feeds chiefly by day on grass-wrack and the
like when frequenting the mud-flats in winter; the nest is among dry
heather or rushes, and contains from seven to ten greenish-buff eggs. _M.
americana_, of North {127}America generally, has a whitish head with black
spots, which cover the crown in the female only. _M. sibilatrix_, reaching
from Chili and Paraguay to Patagonia and the Falklands, is chiefly black
and white with blue-green nape and black speculum.
_Chaulelasmus streperus_, the Gadwall, which breeds in East Anglia and
South Spain, and is apparently spreading thence, occurs in the subarctic
regions of both Worlds, and migrates to Shoa, India, China, Mexico, and
Jamaica. _C. couesi_ of the Fanning group may be distinct. The head and
upper neck are light brown with dusky spots; the back is blackish with grey
markings, the rump black; the lower parts are white with black crescents on
the breast; the wing-coverts grey, chestnut, and black. The female is dark
brown varied with rufous. The speculum is white. The habits are as in most
fresh-water Ducks, the eggs being buff.
_Eunetta falcata_ of East Asia and Japan is a fine bird with chestnut
crown, bronzy-purple cheeks, green occipital crest, white neck ringed with
green, grey and black upper parts, and lower surface waved with black and
white. The white-margined speculum is green, the long thin sickle-shaped
inner secondaries are black and white, and a patch on each side of the tail
is buff. Both upper and under tail-coverts exceed the rectrices. The female
resembles that of the Gadwall, but has a black speculum.
_Anas boscas_, the Mallard or Wild Duck, ranges from about the Arctic
Circle to the Azores, North Africa, Cashmere, and the United States, being
found southward in winter to India and Panama. The head is green with a
white collar, the upper parts are grey and brown, the rump is black, the
speculum purple with margins of black and white, the breast chestnut, the
four curly central rectrices being black. The female is brown and buff with
a green speculum. In the habits there is little that is peculiar, but the
eggs are greenish. The coloration in the remaining species is usually
dusky, nor do the sexes differ greatly. _A. wyvilliana_ inhabits the
Hawaiian, and _A. laysanensis_ the Laysan Islands; _A. melleri_ Madagascar;
_A. obscura_, with its two local forms _A. fulvigula_ and _A. maculosa_,
Eastern North America; _A. diazi_ and _A. aberti_ Mexico; _A. luzonica_ the
Philippines; _A. superciliosa_ the Malay Archipelago and Australian Region;
_A. poccilorhyncha_, with red, yellow, and black bill, India, Ceylon, and
Burma; _A. zonorhyncha_, where the bill is yellow and black and the feet
reddish, Eastern Asia; _A. undulata_ and _A. sparsa_, also with yellow and
black bill, but {128}black and orange feet respectively, South and East
Africa; _A. specularis_, Chili and Patagonia; and _A. cristata_, with a
pendent nuchal crest, America from Peru southwards.
[Illustration: FIG. 34.–Sheld-Drake. _Tadorna cornuta._ × ⅐.]
_Tadorna cornuta_, the Sheld-Drake or Bargander, which ranges from Britain
across Europe and temperate Asia to Japan, and migrates to the
Mediterranean basin, North India, and South China, has the bill and the
basal knob–wanting in the female–red, the feet pink, the head glossy green;
it shews a white collar on the lower neck followed by a broad chestnut
band; blackish outer scapulars, remiges, and tip of the tail; a patch of
chestnut on the inner secondaries, a green speculum, and a brown line down
the under parts, the remaining portions being white. This bird frequents
sandy coasts and muddy flats throughout the year, nesting in burrows, or
rarely among rocks, masonry, or bushes, and laying some ten shiny white
eggs. The flight is powerful and heavy; the note is a shrill whistle or
barking quack; the food consists of aquatic plants, molluscs, and insects.
_T. radjah_, of Australia, Papuasia, and the Moluccas, is white in both
sexes, with blackish scapulars, back, rump, primaries, and rectrices; the
mantle is vermiculated with chestnut, the similarly-coloured pectoral band
is barred with black, the speculum is green with black posterior margin,
the bill and feet are whitish. It breeds commonly in {129}holes in trees,
on which it is quite at ease. _Casarca rutila_, the Ruddy Sheld-Drake or
Brahminy Duck of South Europe, North Africa, and temperate Asia, which has
strayed to Britain and winters in India, Burma, and Formosa, has a buff
head, separated from the orange-brown body by a black collar in summer,
white wing-coverts, black wing- and tail-quills, purple and green speculum,
and black bill and feet. The female is lighter, with no collar. It
frequents fresh water, grazes on corn and grass like a goose, and breeds in
holes of any sort. _C. cana_ of South Africa differs in its grey head,
rufous collar, and black vermiculations above, the female having the front
of the head white. _C. variegata_ of New Zealand is black relieved by grey,
the neck being brown, the anal region and inner secondaries chestnut, the
wing-coverts white, the speculum green. The hen-bird has the head white,
the lower neck, back, and under parts chestnut, varied with black and
white. _C. tadornoïdes_, of South and West Australia and Tasmania, has a
glossy green head, white collar, rufous lower neck and chest, black body
with fulvous mottlings, white wing-coverts, chestnut inner secondaries, and
green speculum, the head of the female being brown.
_Chenalopex aegyptiaca_, the "Egyptian Goose," found in Palestine and
Africa, is rusty or buffish-grey, marked above with black, and with red,
white, green, and black on the wing. The nape and collar are rufous; the
breast shews a maroon patch, the bill is pink and black, the feet are pink.
It has a loud, harsh cry, feeds on land, and lays rather small creamy eggs
in cavities of rocks, on trees, or even among rushes. _C. jubata_, of
Amazonia and Guiana, is grey, with greenish-black back, wings, and tail,
ruddy mantle and belly, purplish-green wing-coverts, and white speculum.
The sexes are alike in this genus and the next.
In _Dendrocycna_, containing the Tree-Ducks, which occur mostly in the
tropics, the main colour is chestnut or dusky-brown, with dark nape and
black rump or belly; but the head may be lighter, the throat or
wing-coverts varied with white, or the flanks barred with black and white.
_D. viduata_, of the Ethiopian and Neotropical Regions, has the front of
the head white; _D. autumnalis_, of Central America, and _D. discolor_, its
greyer representative in northern South America, have red bills and whitish
feet; _D. arborea_, of the Bahamas and Antilles, has strongly spotted lower
parts, as has the larger _D. guttata_, of Mindanao, Celebes, New Guinea,
and the Moluccas; _D. fulva_, of the Ethiopian, Neotropical, {130}and
Indian Regions, has white upper and under tail-coverts; _D. javanica_, of
the latter area only, has them chestnut above and fulvous white below; _D.
arcuata_, ranging from the Malay Archipelago to Fiji, has the breast
chestnut barred with black; _D. eytoni_, of Australia, which has strayed to
New Zealand, has it yellowish-brown. These birds fly slowly and heavily,
and perch regularly on trees, where they sway awkwardly about upon the
branches; the note is a clear whistle or a chattering sound; the food
consists mainly of fish and water-plants, sought at all times of day. In
winter the flocks cause great damage to corn or rice near the lagoons and
other waters they frequent. The nest, placed in hollow trees, stumps, long
grass, or deserted habitations of other birds, contains from six to twelve
white eggs.
Sub-fam. 6. _Chenonettinae._–_Chenonetta jubata_ of Australia has a brown
head, long black feathers on the hind-neck, greyish upper parts with black
tail, rump, and edges to the scapulars, a green speculum with white
borders, a breast mottled with black, grey, and whitish, and a black
abdomen. The female is paler, with dull speculum and white belly. It lays
its creamy-white eggs in the bush districts in hollow trees, perching even
on the tallest of them, and uttering a barking note. _Cyanochen
cyanoptera_, of Abyssinia and Shoa, is grey-brown in both sexes, with black
wings relieved by lead-blue coverts, and green speculum tipped with white.
_Chloëphaga hybrida_, the Kelp Goose of Patagonia and the Falklands, which
lives and breeds on the beach, is white, having a black bill with basal
yellow spot, and yellow feet. The female is brownish-black with white rump,
tail, and anal region, and black lower parts barred with white; the neck
shews narrow white bands on its sides, the black and white wing has the
greater coverts green, and the bill is flesh-coloured. _C. melanoptera_, of
Western America from Peru southwards, is distinguished by brown and white
scapulars, black primaries and tail, green and purple wing-coverts, red
bill and feet; the female being similar. _C. magellanica_, the Upland
Goose, coextensive in range with _C. hybrida_, is white, barred with black
above; the rump, four median rectrices, and wings being grey-black, with
green and white on the wing-coverts, and white secondaries; the bill and
feet are dusky. The female is rufous and black, with similar wings but
yellow feet. _C. inornata_, of Chili, Argentina, and Patagonia, differs in
having black pectoral bands and a grey head in the female. _C.
poliocephala_, of the same {131}countries, with plumbeous, and _C.
rubidiceps_, of the Falklands, with cinnamon head, have in both sexes
chestnut and black plumage, the wing being as in _C. magellanica_, the bill
black, the feet black and orange. _C. melanoptera_ will nest in holes in
cliffs.
[Illustration: FIG. 35.–Red-breasted Goose. _Bernicla ruficollis._ × ⅐.]
Sub-fam. 7. _Anserinae._–In this group the female resembles the male.
_Nesochen sandvicensis_, of the Sandwich Islands, has a black head and
throat, brown plumage barred with whitish and black, and buff sides of the
neck with black stripes. It inhabits craters and "lava-flows" on hills, and
is fond of berries. The members of the genus _Bernicla_, or Black Geese,
are grey and black, with a varying amount of white, and have black bills
and feet. _B. brenta_, the Brent Goose, our commonest winter species, is
brownish-black, with darker head, neck, and breast, white tail-coverts and
lateral neck-patches. It is found in the Arctic Regions, and migrates as
far as the Mediterranean and the Mississippi. It feeds by day in shallows
on grass-wrack, laver, crustaceans, and insects, has a loud note, and lays
about four cream-coloured eggs. From western Arctic America to the Lena
occurs the form _B. nigricans_ with white collar and black belly. _B.
leucopsis_, the Bernacle Goose, migrating to the same districts as _B.
brenta_, abounding on our west coasts in winter, and occupying in summer
Arctic Europe and Greenland, where it is supposed to breed, has nested in
one place in Norway. The front of the head is white, the crown and neck are
black, the mantle is lavender-grey marked with black and white, the under
parts are greyish. Unlike the Brent Goose, it feeds at night. _B.
canadensis_, of temperate North America, wintering down to Mexico, has a
triangular white patch on each side of the black {132}head, and is
comparatively large; _B. hutchinsi_ is a smaller and more Arctic form, _B.
minima_ and _B. occidentalis_ north-western races of the same. _B.
ruficollis_, the Red-breasted Goose of West Siberia, which migrates
southwards, strays to Britain, and is portrayed in the paintings of Egypt,
is black, with white loral patch, rump, sides and belly, the ear-coverts,
fore-neck, and chest are chestnut outlined by white, and the two wing-bands
are grey.
_Philacte canagica_, the Emperor Goose of North-East Asia and North-West
America, is blue-grey with black and white bars, the head and nape being
white tinted with orange, the throat brownish, the bill purplish-blue with
white nail, and the feet orange.
_Cycnopsis cycnoïdes_, the Chinese Goose of East Asia, is mainly grey-brown
above and whitish below, with rufous edges to the feathers; the head and
neck are white with a brown band down the crown and nape; the bill is
black, or in the domesticated form red with a frontal knob; the feet are
orange.
_Anser cinereus_, the Grey-Lag, which nests in North Scotland and as far
south as Spain and Kashgaria, ranges from Iceland to China, the Eastern
race being called _A. rubrirostris_; _A. albifrons_, the White-fronted
Goose, is found in Britain and most Palaearctic countries in winter, and
chiefly eastward of Norway in summer; _A. segetum_, the Bean Goose, another
of our hibernal visitants, breeds from Scandinavia to Amurland, and
migrates southward to Madeira, North Africa, China, and Japan; _A.
brachyrhynchus_, the Pink-footed Goose, extends over North Europe, and is
common with us in the cold season; _A. indicus_ inhabits Central Asia and
North India. _A. middendorffi_ (_grandis_) of East Siberia is a large form
of the Bean Goose; while the small _A. erythropus_, once shot in Britain,
has a similar range to the White-fronted Goose, of which both it and the
big _A. gambeli_ of North America may be considered sub-species. The
general coloration in this genus is grey-brown; in the Grey-Lag the bill
and feet are flesh-coloured with white nail, in the White-fronted Goose
orange, the latter having a white forehead and white breast with black
bars. In the Bean and Pink-footed Geese the nail is black, but the bill and
feet are orange-and-black and pink respectively. _A. indicus_ is lighter,
with brown hind-neck, and two black crescents on the back of the white
head. All these Grey Geese feed chiefly by day among green corn, stubble,
peas, beans or clover, retiring at night to sand-banks or mud-flats in
{133}winter; the note, often syllabled "honk-honk," is at times almost a
cackle, whence the flocks or "skeins" are called "gaggles." The nest,
placed in herbage or heather, is of grass, moss, twigs, or aquatic plants,
and contains five or more whitish eggs.
_Chen hyperboreus_, the "Wavy" of North-East Asia and North-West America,
with its larger Eastern American race, _C. nivalis_, and _C. rossi_ of
Arctic America–which wander south in winter, while the first has occurred
in Britain and North Europe–are white, with black primaries, purplish-red
bills and feet; _C. rossi_ having a warty base to the maxilla. _C.
caerulescens_, of eastern North America, is grey-brown, with white head,
bluish rump and wing-coverts. The food consists of rushes, insects, and
berries.
Sub-fam. 8. _Cereopsinae._–_Cereopsis novae hollandiae_, the Cape Barren
Goose of South-East Australia and Tasmania, is grey-brown, with large
yellow cere, chiefly reddish-orange feet, black toes and beak. More
terrestrial than its nearest kin, it lays similar eggs. The very large
extinct _Cnemiornis_, of the superficial deposits of New Zealand, was a
close ally, with aborted keel to the sternum and short wings useless for
flight.
Sub-fam. 9. _Plectropterinae._–_Aex sponsa_,[118] the Summer Duck of North
America and Cuba, accidental in Jamaica and the Bermudas, has the upper
parts mainly glossy green, with purple cheeks, black neck-patches, and
white stripes on the face and neck; the breast is chestnut with white
spots, the throat and belly are white, the wing-coverts partly blue, the
flanks brown, black, and white; the bill is black, white, yellow, purplish,
and scarlet; the feet are yellow. It has a long occipital crest. The female
is grey-brown with metallic gloss, a white throat and eye-space, plumbeous
and black bill, and brownish feet. This inland species feeds on insects,
seeds, leaves, and acorns, and lays buff eggs in holes in trees. _Aex
galericulata_, the Mandarin Duck of East Asia, is somewhat similar, but has
a neck-ruff of narrow chestnut feathers streaked with whitish, a chestnut
and black "fan" formed by the decurved innermost secondary, a copper,
purple, and green crest, and a red-brown bill. The female is brown, grey,
and white.
_Nettopus pulchellus_, of Australia, New Guinea, and the Moluccas, has the
upper parts and neck-collar dark green, the head browner, the remiges and
rectrices black with a white wing-bar, the cheeks and lower parts white,
the sides marked with {134}green crescentic bands, and the bill and feet
black. _N. coromandelianus_, extending from the Indian Region to Celebes,
has a white neck, a brown band across the breast, and the flanks freckled
with grey; _N. albipennis_, of East Australia, is similar but larger; _N.
auritus_, of West and South Africa with Madagascar, has a sea-green patch
on each side of the occiput, the lower part of the neck and the flanks
being rufous. The females are much duller. These Pigmy Geese frequent small
lakes and dive admirably; the note is a cackle; the nest, placed in holes
in trees or ruins, if not among grass, contains from six to twelve white
eggs.
_Pteronetta hartlaubi_, of West Africa, is chestnut with black head and
blue wing-coverts in both sexes. _Rhodonessa caryophyllacea_, of India and
Burma, is rich brown dotted with whitish, the head and nape being pink, the
speculum salmon-coloured, the bill reddish-white, the feet blackish. It
lays round white eggs.
_Asarcornis scutulata_, ranging from East Bengal to Java, has a black and
white head, black mantle and under surface, greenish-olive upper parts,
with black and white on the wings, a blue-grey speculum, reddish bill and
feet. _Sarcidiornis melanonota_, of India, Ceylon, Burma, and the Ethiopian
Region, is black with metallic hues above, and white below; the head and
neck are black and white, the rump is grey, the tail brown, the feet, bill,
and its basal comb or caruncle black. _S. carunculata_, of Brazil,
Paraguay, and North Argentina, differs in its black rump. The comb is
largest in the breeding season, and is wanting in females. These
Wattle-Ducks perch on trees and breed in cavities of the trunks, laying a
dozen or more white eggs. The note is harsh and the flight slow. _Cairina
moschata_, the Muscovy–or more correctly Musk–Duck of ornamental waters,
extends from Mexico to Argentina; the crested head, neck, and lower parts
are brownish-black; the upper surface is glossy green, with purple on the
back and white wing-coverts; the bill is black and white; the feet are
black; and the frontal and orbital caruncles of the male red. It inhabits
forest-swamps, roosts in trees, eats maize, mandioc roots, and herbage, and
nests in holes in trees or between forking branches. _Plectropterus
gambensis_ of Mid-Africa, _P. rüppelli_ of the North-East, _P. niger_ of
the South-East, and _P. scioanus_ of Shoa, the four hardly separable
Spur-winged Geese, are metallic black, with more or less white on the sides
of the head, lesser wing-coverts, throat, and abdomen; the feet, bill,
frontal knob, {135}and caruncles on the forehead when present being red.
The female has no knob. They frequent marshes, appear to prefer running to
flying or perching, and lay about eight whitish eggs.
Sub-fam. 10. _Anseranatinae._–This contains only _Anseranas semipalmata_ of
Australia and Tasmania, a white bird with black head, neck, mantle, wings,
and tail, reddish beak, and yellow feet. It haunts swamps, walks easily,
and deposits some five white eggs.
Sub-fam. 11. _Cygninae._–In this group the sexes are similar. _Coscoroba
candida_, of southern South America, is white, with black tips to the
primaries, pinkish bill and feet. It feeds on land, has a loud trumpeting
cry, and a less noisy flight than the true Swans, from which it differs in
its feathered lores. _Chenopis atrata_, the Black Swan of Southern
Australia and Tasmania, occasionally domesticated in England, is
brownish-black, with white remiges, black feet, pink lores, and pink bill
banded with white, the scapulars and inner secondaries being curled.
_Cygnus musicus_, the Whooper, which used to breed in Orkney, and ranges
from Iceland through Arctic Europe and Asia, migrating to the
Mediterranean, Nepal, China, and Japan, and straying to Greenland, is white
with black feet and bill, the basal half of the latter being yellow, while
that colour extends still further on the sides. The flight is accompanied
by a rushing sound, the note is trumpet-like or whistling, the food
consists of aquatic plants, the five or more white eggs are laid upon a
pile of herbage near water. The smaller _C. bewicki_, where the yellow on
the bill does not reach the nostrils, inhabits the Arctic districts from
the White Sea to the Pacific, wandering in winter to Britain, the
Mediterranean, South Siberia, China, and Japan. _C. columbianus_ of North
America, said to have occurred in Scotland, has merely a yellow spot before
the eye; _C. buccinator_, of the interior of North America, has a black
bill; while _C. olor_, the Mute or Tame Swan, with its variety the Polish
Swan, has the fore-part of it orange. _C. olor_ ranges from South Sweden
and Denmark through Central Europe and Asia, migrating a little southwards.
_C. melanocoryphus_, reaching from South Brazil and Chili to Patagonia and
the Falklands, has the head and two-thirds of the neck black, with white
eye-streak; the bill is plumbeous with red base and knob, the feet are
pinkish. The protuberance is wanting in the young, which are marked with
rusty, and have the head brown. Of other species immature birds are greyish
or dusky, with flesh-coloured {136}and black beak, except in _C. olor_,
where it is plumbeous. In habits Swans are much alike, though the notes
differ somewhat, and the Mute Swan merely hisses or croaks in captivity;
the latter and the Black Swan are noted for the graceful curve of the neck
and their greenish eggs; while the wing-feathers and scapulars are
habitually puffed out when on the water. Swans were "Royal Birds" in
mediaeval England, and a licence was necessary to keep them, but for this
subject and that of the "Swan-marks" on the bill, as well as for accounts
of decoys, hybrids, and domestic races in the Family, the reader must be
referred to the works of Professor Newton,[119] Count Salvadori,[120] and
other authors.
[Illustration: FIG. 36.–Bewick's Swan. _Cygnus bewicki._ × ⅒.]
Fossil remains of this group are found throughout the Miocene of France,
Switzerland, Germany, and Italy, referred to _Anser_ and _Anas_, with
_Chenornis graculoïdes_; the Pliocene of Oregon has furnished _Branta_,
_Cygnus_, and _Anser_, that of Italy _Anas_ and _Fuligula_; the Plistocene
of Malta _Cygnus_ and _Palaeocycnus_, that of Brazil _Chenalopex_. The
superficial deposits of New Zealand contain _Cnemiornis_, mentioned above,
as well as _Chenopis_ and _Biziura_; the Queensland drifts the last-named,
and, it is said, _Anas_, _Dendrocycna_, and _Nyroca_; the Mare aux Songes
of Mauritius _Anas_ and _Sarcidiornis_. _Centrornis majori_ is a remarkable
form {137}from Central Madagascar, found at a depth of twelve to fifteen
feet with another species _Chenalopex sirabensis_.[121]
ORDER VII. FALCONIFORMES.
Next to the aquatic Anseriformes may be placed the large and important
terrestrial Order Falconiformes, with its Sub-Orders CATHARTAE and
ACCIPITRES. The former contains the New-World Vultures (_Cathartidae_ or
_Sarcorhamphidae_), possessing striking differences of structure from their
allies;[122] the latter, the Secretary-Bird (_Serpentariidae_), the
Old-World Vultures (_Vulturidae_), the Carrion-Hawks, Hawks, Eagles,
Falcons and their kin (_Falconidae_), and the Ospreys (_Pandionidae_). All
agree in the strong "raptorial" bill with basal cere, the U-shaped furcula,
the large crop, the carnivorous habits, the great powers of flight, the
superior size of the female, and the long nest-occupation of the young; but
the Cathartae differ in having pervious nostrils, no syringeal muscles,
less flattened metatarsi, and so forth.
Fam. I. CATHARTIDAE.–These Vultures range from tropical to temperate
America, and are often of immense size; the bill is strong, hooked, but
blunt; the feet are clumsy with small scales; the scutellated toes, of
which the mid-digit is longest and the hallux somewhat elevated, are unfit
for grasping; the claws are obtuse and little curved. The ample wings have
eleven primaries and from twelve to twenty-five secondaries; the moderate
tail is even or rounded, with twelve rectrices, or fourteen in
_Pseudogryphus_. The head and long neck are commonly bare, but the latter
may be covered with stubbly down, which in _Gyparchus papa_ extends to the
occiput; the naked skin is often brightly coloured and accompanied by
caruncles, while the crop is bare in _Sarcorhamphus_ and _Gyparchus_. The
eyes are prominent, the cere is horny and sometimes very long, the tongue
thick and fleshy, the aftershaft absent. The sexes are alike in plumage,
with evenly distributed down, and the nestlings soon develop a white or
rufous covering.
Though, generally speaking, predaceous, the members of this Family only
attack disabled animals, or often act chiefly as scavengers, whence the
smaller forms are commonly found near the abodes of man and even in towns.
The larger species sail high above the earth with easy, long-sustained, and
majestic flight, {138}accompanied by little movement of the pinions, as
they circle over the plains or mountain-sides in search of prey. In this
quest experiments have shewn that they are little guided by smell; rather
does some individual, aided by its marvellously keen sight, spy the carrion
from afar, its motives being instantly divined by its immediate neighbour;
a third bird is next attracted; and so the tidings spread, until a greedy
crowd meets to dismember the carcass, to fight over the morsels, and then
to sit stupid and gorged, with drooping wings, on or near the ground.
Except when feeding, the Cathartidae are non-gregarious, though
"Turkey-Buzzards" and "Black Vultures" roost in company; the latter are
said to take to the wing with ease, eschewing the preliminary hops of their
allies; while all walk well. The voice is a hoarse sound or hiss, owing to
the absence of syringeal muscles. The nest of sticks is placed in trees,
cavities of rocks, hollow stumps, or on the ground, and may be bulky or of
the slightest description; the one or two eggs are white, buff, or
greenish, with or without reddish-brown and grey blotches. The parents
regurgitate food–at least occasionally–for the nestlings, and eject
foul-smelling matter when disturbed.
_Sarcorhamphus gryphus_, the Condor, only equalled in size among birds that
fly by a few Old-World Vultures, and appearing still larger in clear
mountain air, ranges down western South America and up to the Rio Negro on
the east of Patagonia. The head and neck are bare, with dull red skin,
wrinkled in folds on the latter; while an oblique ruff of white down
surmounts the black plumage, which shews white edges to the wing-coverts
and secondaries. The male has a fleshy crest extending from the mid-cere to
the crown, a large wattle on the throat, and a small caruncle below; the
irides being in that sex brown, in the female garnet-red. The bill is white
with brown base. Smaller and browner examples occur in Ecuador, but larger
appendages mark those of Chili and Patagonia. In the southern portion of
their range Condors are found down to the sea-level, but Mr. E.
Whymper[123] states that in Ecuador they frequent the Andes up to sixteen
thousand feet, and rarely descend to the plains. Stupid and voracious, they
can be lassoed while feeding, and, though they will attack old horses,
calves, lambs, goats, deer, and dogs, especially when dazzled by the sun,
they seldom risk an assault on mankind. The nest, of a few sticks, is
placed on steep cliffs, and contains two white eggs.
{139}[Illustration: FIG. 37.–Condor. _Sarcorhamphus gryphus_ ♀. × ⅛-⅑.]
A young bird was hatched in London after fifty-four days' incubation, but
apparently nearly a year is taken to gain full powers of flight. _Gyparchus
papa_, the King Vulture, of tropical America, save the West Indies, has a
small fleshy crest on the cere in both sexes, but no wattles, though the
skin of the sides of the head is wrinkled; the occiput is hairy, and a ruff
of broad plumbeous feathers surrounds the neck. The rump, tail, and most of
the wings are black; the remaining plumage being creamy white, the bare
throat and back of the neck yellow, the skin of the head and neck elsewhere
orange and red with blue patches near the ears, the bill orange and black,
the irides white. This bird haunts woods near rivers and marshes,
especially towards the coast, and feeds on snakes and carrion, from which
it drives all other species; in flight, habit of gorging, and eggs, it
resembles the Condor. Little smaller is the Californian Vulture
(_Pseudogryphus californianus_), formerly extending to the Fraser River in
British {140}Columbia, in which the long flat head and neck are bare,
smooth, and orange-coloured, the bill being whitish and the irides carmine.
The plumage is dull black with a whitish wing-band, due to the margins of
the greater coverts and secondaries; lanceolate feathers form a basal ruff
round the neck, and extend over the lower parts. The habits are similar to
those of the foregoing, but the loose nest of sticks, placed in cavities of
trees or crags, contains one rough greenish-white egg. The genus
_Rhinogryphus_ or _Cathartes_ ("Turkey-Buzzard") includes _R. aura_, of
temperate and tropical America, reaching to Tierra del Fuego and the
Falklands, in which the head and upper neck are naked, smooth, and crimson;
and _R. burrovianus_, found from Mexico to Brazil, where they are orange
and the nape is feathered; the yellow-headed _R. perniger_, of Amazonia,
being hardly separable. All are black with whitish bill, red irides, and a
tuft of bristles in front of the eye; but the first has brown-margined
feathers and metallic sheen above. In common with _Catharista_, they have
the cere very long. During the day-time these quarrelsome scavengers,
ubiquitous but necessary, haunt the house-tops and roadways of towns and
villages, whence they retire at night to groves or forests in company;
otherwise their habits are those of Vultures generally. They have been said
to pair for life, while they deposit two whitish eggs with red-brown and
lilac markings in some hollow of a crag, tree, or log, often on or near the
ground, adding little, if any, bedding. _Catharista atratus_, the "Carrion
Crow" or Black Vulture, which ranges from Argentina and Chili to the West
Indies and Carolina, and occasionally further north, is most plentiful near
the coast; the fearless demeanour, flight, manner of feeding, nesting
habits and eggs, resembling those of Turkey-Buzzards, though the
wing-action is more laboured, and the gait shuffling. Audubon says that the
males strut and gesticulate like Turkeys when courting, while incubation
lasts about three weeks. The colour is black, the naked head being dusky
and the upper neck somewhat corrugated; the bill is blackish with light
tip, the irides are brown.
Fossils referred to this Family are met with in North and South
America.[124]
The points wherein the Cathartae differ from the Accipitres {141}having
been already noticed (p. 137), it only remains to discuss in detail the
several families comprised in the latter Sub-Order.
[Illustration: FIG. 38.–Secretary-Bird. _Serpentarius secretarius._ × ⅑.]
Fam. II. SERPENTARIIDAE.–This contains only _Serpentarius secretarius_, the
African Secretary-Bird–now generally recognised as an Accipitrine
form–which is most common in the south, though extending northwards to the
Gambia, Khartum, and Abyssinia. It was first accurately made known in 1769,
from an example living in the menagerie of the Prince of Orange, by
Vosmaer, who was told that at the Cape of Good Hope it was called
"Sagittarius," or Archer, from its habit of striding like a bowman about to
shoot, and that this name had been corrupted into "Secretarius."
Subsequently–about 1770–a pair was {142}brought alive to England.[125] The
appellation is evidently, however, derived from the nuchal tuft, which
bears a fancied resemblance to the pen of a clerk stuck above his ear.
Standing some four feet high on very long legs, this bird gives the
impression of a Heron or Crane, and is a striking object on its native
plains. The short strong beak is greatly arched, and is not toothed, the
neck is elongated, the body comparatively small, and the metatarsus boldly
scutellated all round, the short straight toes with their blunt claws being
joined anteriorly by small membranes. The ample wings have eleven pointed
primaries and seventeen secondaries; the graduated tail of twelve rectrices
has the two obtuse median feathers drooping and much prolonged. Down is
evenly distributed over the adults, and an aftershaft is present. The
general colour is bluish-grey, with black wing-quills, lower back and vent;
the loose pendent crest on the occiput and nape contains ten plumes in
pairs, the longer being black and the shorter grey with black ends; the
tail is grey, subterminally barred with black and tipped with white, which
sometimes shews on the short close flank-feathers. The long cere, naked
sides of the face, and feet are yellow, the irides hazel. The sexes are
similar.
In South Africa these useful birds–favoured by a protecting law–are often
brought up tame about the homesteads, where they kill reptiles and keep off
feathered intruders, though they occasionally tax the poultry-yard
themselves; the food consists of small mammals, birds, lizards, and
tortoises, but above all of snakes and insects. When the Secretary attacks
a reptile, it advances on foot and delivers a forward kick with its
powerful leg, striking simultaneously with the knobbed wings, which shield
its body; then it retreats with a bound, as the hissing snake makes a
vicious lunge; but soon, watching its opportunity, breaks through its
opponent's guard and stands triumphant with crest erect, before swallowing
the disabled foe.[126] If, however, the snake touches the bird's flesh, the
result is reversed; and so well, according to Mr. Atmore,[127] does the
latter know this, that it plucks out instantly any feather that the fangs
have reached. Possibly reptiles are occasionally killed by being carried
aloft and dropped. Usually seen stalking easily along, this graceful
species can almost out-pace a {143}horseman, while it will fly when hard
pressed, or soar to a considerable height. The huge nest, occupied from
year to year, is placed in a bush or tree, and is composed of sticks and
clay with a lining of wool and hair, the two or three eggs being white with
rusty markings. In six weeks the downy white young are hatched, which
remain some four months in the nest, often uttering a harsh cry. The legs
of both nestlings and adults are very fragile, and snap if they trip while
running.
A fossil form (_S. robustus_) has been recorded from the Lower Miocene of
Allier in France.
Fam. III. VULTURIDAE.–The Old-World Vultures have a strong hooked
bill–exceptionally slender in _Neophron_–which may be sinuate, but has no
tooth. They possess a horny cere; a comparatively short, stout, reticulated
metatarsus, often partly feathered; scutellated toes on a level, with
bluntish slightly curved claws, and a short membrane between the outer and
mid digits. They lack the bony ridge found over the eye in the Falconidae.
The somewhat pointed wings are long and broad, with eleven primaries and
from seventeen to twenty-five secondaries; the moderate tail, ordinarily of
twelve feathers, is rounded, but varies to wedge-shaped in _Neophron_,
where, as in _Gyps_, there are fourteen rectrices. The plumage is compact;
the crop prominent; the head and neck are bare or sparsely-haired in
_Otogyps_ and _Pseudogyps_, more or less downy in _Vultur_, _Lophogyps_,
and _Gyps_, and partly feathered in _Neophron_; while a ruff of down or
plumes covers the shoulders. The nostrils are circular in _Vultur_,
horizontally elongated in _Neophron_, oval and vertical elsewhere; the
fleshy tongue may show bristly or upcurved margins, and the syrinx has two
pairs of tracheo-bronchial muscles. Uniformly distributed down and an
aftershaft characterize the adults, while the white woolly nestling of
_Gyps_ is said to be hatched naked.[128] Except as regards _Neophron_, the
habits resemble those of the Cathartidae, the carrion diet producing a most
offensive odour. The plumage of the sexes is the same.
_Vultur monachus_ (_cinereus_), the Black Vulture, has its headquarters in
the Mediterranean Region, whence it extends to the Gold Coast, Nubia, the
Lower Danube, North India and China, and has strayed to Denmark. Not unlike
the more sociable Griffon Vulture in general habits, it shows a preference
for wooded country, {144}constructing a bulky shallow nest of sticks,
grass, and wool almost invariably on trees, and laying one, or rarely two,
white eggs blotched with dark red. The plumage is brownish-black, with a
ruff of lanceolate feathers below the bare neck, and black down on the
crown and throat. The naked skin and cere are of a livid flesh-colour, the
feet yellowish; the bill is black, the iris brown. _Lophogyps occipitalis_,
of East and South Africa and Senegal, is dark brown with blacker remiges
and rectrices, and some white on the wings; the reddish head and neck are
bare, except for white down on the crown, which thickens towards the
occiput; the ruff is brown, the abdomen and crop are white, the feet
pinkish; the bill is orange with bluish cere, the iris brown. _Otogyps
auricularis_, of North-East and South Africa, called the "Eared Vulture"
from the fleshy lappets (of the same pinkish colour as the naked head,
cere, and feet) on the sides of the neck, is brown, with blackish wings and
tail, varied by white down on the thighs and chest; a brown ruff covers the
hind-neck, while the bill and irides are yellow. _O. calvus_, the smaller
Pondicherry- or King-Vulture of India, Burma, and Siam, is black. These
birds usually hunt in pairs, driving all intruders except Eagles from their
prey: they construct immense stick nests, often used in successive years,
on thick bushes or trees; straw, leaves, and the like being added for
lining, and one white egg, often with red-brown markings, deposited. _Gyps
fulvus_, the Griffon Vulture, which has occurred in Germany, Poland, and
once in Britain, breeds from the Spanish Pyrenees through Southern Europe
and Northern Africa, reaching lat. 50° N. in Russia, and extending eastward
to North India, by way of Turkestan, where it overlaps the larger form _G.
himalayensis_. It is fawn-brown above and streaky buff below, with nearly
black wings and tail, the adults having a downy white ruff, represented in
the young by a brown collar; the head is thinly covered with white hairs,
the beak is horn-coloured with blue-black cere, the feet are plumbeous, the
irides orange. This active though cowardly species is often seen basking on
rocks at mid-day; it flies or hovers with easy movements, and can soar
until it almost disappears in the sky. It has a growling note. The nest, a
mass of sticks and grass of variable size, is placed on cliffs, and
contains one or even two white eggs, sometimes with rusty markings.
Incubation lasts forty days, the young remaining three months in the nest.
_G. kolbi_ of South Africa is much paler; _G. rüppelli_, of the north-east
and south of {145}that continent, has a yellower head and browner back; _G.
indicus_ of India and the Indo-Malay mainland; from which _G. pallescens_
is hardly separable, has a barer head and comparatively thin bill; the
former breeds in trees in place of rocks. _Pseudogyps bengalensis_, the
White-backed Vulture, ranging through India and down the Malay Peninsula,
is black above, but brownish below, with the thin downy ruff and lower back
white; the bill is greyish, the cere, feet, naked head and neck are black,
the irides brown. This bird snorts, hisses, or even roars, and walks
easily, though awkwardly. It nests in company on trees, and often lines the
large stick-fabric with foliage, as do so many other Raptorial forms; the
greenish-white eggs, seldom marked with red, vary much in bulk. _P.
africanus_, of North-East and West Africa, is decidedly browner.
The genus _Neophron_ contains the smallest Vultures, _N. percnopterus_
being called, from its frequent occurrence on Egyptian hieroglyphs, the
Egyptian Vulture or Pharaoh's Hen. It has wandered thrice to Britain and
also to North Europe, while it breeds from Savoy and Provence to Madeira,
the Canaries, the Cape Verds, North Africa, and India, meeting in the
last-named the smaller _N. ginginianus_; in winter it visits South Africa,
where it is called the "White Crow." The plumage is white, with black
primaries and partially brown secondaries; a ruff of lanceolate feathers
extends up to the occiput, the naked head and neck are yellow, the tip of
the bill alone being black; the feet are pink, the irides crimson. Often
seen striding sedately along in search of animal and vegetable refuse or
dung, this species also follows the plough and devours worms, grubs,
insects, reptiles, and frogs; while from its alleged habit of breaking
bones left by other Vultures, it is called Quebranta-huesos or
"bone-smasher" by the Spaniards.[129] The flight is slow and easy, the
voice a croak. The flat nest of sticks, lined with soft materials, and
especially rags, is placed on a crag or tree, and contains two white eggs
with red-brown or claret blotches. _N. pileatus_ of South Africa–which has
a larger north-eastern and western form–is brown, with black wings and
tail, downy whitish nape, purplish naked areas, dusky bill and feet, and
brown irides.
Of fossil forms there are recorded _Gyps melitensis_[130] from the
Plistocene of Malta, and _Vultur_ from that of France.[131]
{146}Fam. IV. FALCONIDAE.–This group may be divided into the Sub-families
(1) _Gypaëtinae_ for the Lämmergeiers; (2) _Polyborinae_ for the "Carrion
Hawks"; (3) _Accipitrinae_ for the Hawks, with _Circus_, _Polyboroïdes_,
and so forth; (4) _Aquilinae_ for the Eagles; (5) _Buteoninae_ for the
Buzzards and Kites; and (6) _Falconinae_ for the Falcons.
Though the skull is small in _Circus_ and some other forms, it is usually
large and broad, being considerably elongated in the Aquilinae. The short
stout bill is strongly curved, and terminates in a hook, which is often
nearly perpendicular, and is specially prominent in _Rostrhamus_,
_Leptodon_, _Harpyhaliaëtus_, _Pithecophaga_ and _Thrasaëtus_; the basal
third is straight in Eagles, while the edges of the maxilla are lobed or
festooned to a variable extent, and in the Falconinae are distinctly
toothed, or even bidentate in the case of _Spiziapteryx_, _Harpagus_, and
_Baza_. A bony ridge over the eye conduces to the fierce aspect, especially
in the larger species. The feet are robust and well-fitted for grasping,
and are enormously developed in _Thrasaëtus_; the metatarsus is much
flattened, and may be scutellated or reticulated, though the scales are
usually smaller behind; the tibia generally exceeds it in measurement, but
in Accipitrine forms is nearly equal, giving them a long-legged appearance.
Elongated bare metatarsi are characteristic of _Circus_, _Polyboroïdes_,
and the Polyborinae. The claws are sharp and curved, especially in
_Rostrhamus_; a short membrane connects the middle and outer toes, and the
inner also in the Polyborinae; while their under surface is more or less
padded, and exhibits rugose spicules below in _Busarellus_, similar to
those in _Pandion_. The powerful wings may be long and pointed, as in the
Kites, Falcons, and Harriers; moderate and somewhat rounded, as in the
Eagles and Buzzards; or short and narrow, as in Hawks. Falconers term the
long-winged forms "noble," the short-winged ignoble. The tail, usually of
medium size, but sometimes very short, as in _Helotarsus_ and _Gypohierax_,
is decidedly elongated in the Accipitrinae and _Polyborus_, and also in
_Milvus_, _Lophoictinia_, _Elanoïdes_, and _Nauclerus_, where it is
forked–very deeply in the two last: it may be wedge-shaped, as in
_Uroaëtus_, _Thalassaëtus_, _Harpyhaliaëtus_, and _Gypaëtus_; rounded, as
in _Elanus_ and _Haliaëtus_; nearly even, as in _Buteo_ and _Aquila_; or
emarginated, as in _Ictinia_ and _Rostrhamus_. Normally there are twelve
rectrices, but _Thalassaëtus_ has fourteen. The colour varies greatly with
age, {147}and it often takes four years or more to attain maturity, the
markings commonly changing from longitudinal to transverse; but the sexes
are usually alike, though the Kestrel, Merlin, Red-footed Falcon, and many
Harriers are well-known exceptions, the last having generally blue-grey
males and brown females. The occipital feathers are elongated in several of
the Polyborinae, and a full crest occurs in many genera, _Lophoaëtus_,
_Thrasaëtus_, _Harpyhaliaëtus_, _Helotarsus_, _Morphnus_, and
_Lophoictinia_ being especially noticeable; _Circus_ has a facial ruff,
coupled with exceptionally large aural apertures; the feathers of the neck
may be lanceolate, as in _Haliaëtus_, or those of the nape, as in _Aquila_;
and the plumage commonly over-hangs the metatarsus, which is feathered to
the toes in various Aquiline forms, and in _Archibuteo_. The nostrils are
circular in the Falconinae, oval or nearly linear elsewhere, with a central
tubercle in the last-named and the Polyborinae, seldom found in the other
Sub-families: they are generally in or near the cere, which is almost
always fleshy. An aftershaft is present; the down in adults is uniform;
that of the nestling being woolly and varying from white to grey, buff,
brown, or black. The feet are yellow, red, or brown; the bill is ordinarily
dark, and the cere yellow; _Gypaëtus_, however, has all these parts
bluish-grey, with a crimson sclerotic membrane (equivalent to the "white of
the eye") round the orange iris, the latter being yellow or orange in the
Accipitrinae, brown in the Falconinae, and varying to red elsewhere. The
syrinx has two pairs of tracheo-bronchial muscles; the tongue is thick and
often concave; and Nitzsch[132] has recorded single or paired powder-down
patches on the lower back of _Elanoïdes_, _Elanus_, _Regerhinus_, and
_Circus_, with similar but scattered down-feathers in _Gypaëtus_.
The members of this Family range in size from the mighty Lämmergeier to the
tiny Finch-Falcon (_Microhierax_); but they have many habits in common,
though _Polyborus_ and _Milvago_ are somewhat terrestrial and vulturine,
and a few species have crepuscular tendencies. They are decidedly
non-gregarious, though the Polyborinae, _Erythropus_, and _Rostrhamus_ form
partial exceptions; they pair very early in the year, if not for life, the
larger forms in especial breeding almost before winter is over. Birds of
the mountains, the plains, and the woods, they can bear the cold of the icy
regions or the heat of the Equator, but towards {148}either pole the number
of species decreases perceptibly. The sight is exceptionally keen, and the
flight generally powerful and rapid; Eagles and Buzzards indeed move
heavily to all appearance, as they circle or sail around with flapping
action, but the spectacle of the former in chase of a grouse will quickly
disillusion the observer. Kites are still more versatile upon the wing, nor
are the Polyborine forms always deficient in this respect, while the dash
and speed of Hawks and Falcons in their different styles is
proverbial.[133] Harriers and the like may be seen buoyantly quartering the
ground for hours, poising themselves almost motionless aloft, or gliding in
circles to great heights; and the hovering or stationary position on the
wing, which gives the name of "Windhover" to the Kestrel, is more general
than might be supposed throughout the Family. Taken as a class, few birds
can fly so well or so untiringly, though Vultures, Cranes, Storks,
Albatroses, and the larger Gulls have even greater powers of endurance;
they can, moreover, perch with great facility, and, while seldom running or
walking fast, can move with freedom upon the ground, where they generally
progress by means of hops, and aid themselves with their wings. Many of the
Falconidae are very quarrelsome, and use their talons as weapons of
offence, this trait being emphasized at the nesting-quarters, whence
feathered intruders are rigorously excluded. The cry is shrill, but varies
in depth; in the Peregrine Falcon it is a succession of short notes, in
Eagles it resembles a yelp, in Buzzards a cat's mew, in Kites a whistle,
and so forth; whereas in _Melierax_ it may almost be called a song. The
diet varies considerably, and consists of mammals, birds, reptiles, fish,
frogs, tortoises, crabs, molluscs, and insects. _Gypohierax_, _Aquila_,
_Haliastur_, _Milvago_, and _Polyborus_ certainly eat carrion, and the last
will attack newly-born lambs–a grievance made the most of by sheep-farmers
in the case of Eagles; while the larger forms kill fawns, monkeys, foxes,
hares, and other creatures of considerable size. Buzzards keep down
rabbits, and hunt rats and mice as assiduously as Harriers and the Kestrel;
the latter devours quantities of insects, as do also some of the
Polyborinae; and the so-called "Honey" Buzzard (_Pernis_) gains its name
from its fondness for grubs of bees or wasps. Kites work havoc among
poultry; the Golden Eagle, and still more the Peregrine Falcon, among
moor-fowl; the last two proving an {149}advantage in Scotch deer-forests,
where the noisy grouse disturb the stags, but being in peril of
extermination on the moorlands; yet it is questionable whether more good
than harm is not done by the destruction of weakly game. The Osprey and
Sea-Eagle eat little but fish, though they are not alone in that habit,
while _Rostrhamus_ lives almost entirely on fresh-water molluscs. Most
members of the Family do not alight to capture their prey, but seize it
with their sharp talons either sitting or on the wing, the chief exceptions
being the carrion- and insect-eaters; it is often conveyed to some
favourite spot of ground or rock to devour, smaller objects being
transported in the bill and the bigger torn to pieces and stripped before
being swallowed. Large bones may be broken up, slender bones bolted entire;
but hard substances are always ejected subsequently as pellets, after the
manner of Owls (p. 401), the nature of the diet being readily detected from
these castings. Exceptionally curious habits are credited to _Gypaëtus_ and
_Gypoictinia_, as will be seen below. After a meal, quiescence is the rule,
but none of the tribe gorge like Vultures. The predilections of species or
even of individuals determine the situation of the nest, Eagles and other
large forms preferring rocks in mountain-glens, lofty cliffs, or trees, for
their bulky fabric of sticks, heather, and the like, which is lined with
softer substances, and often bedded with foliage. The larger Falcons
frequently select ledges on sea-girt or inland crags, and merely scrape a
hole in the soil; but they, in common with the lesser Falcons, also utilize
deserted habitations of Crows and so forth, or even lay their eggs on level
ground or upon crumbling masonry; while the American "Sparrow-Hawk"
(_Tinnunculus sparverius_) commonly appropriates old holes of Woodpeckers.
Harriers, _Rostrhamus_, and other forms choose sites in reed-beds,
gorse-coverts, fern, rough grass, or corn, and eschew hard materials; Hawks
usually construct a flat platform of branches lined with thinner twigs. The
eggs are generally bluish-, greenish-, or yellowish-white, with fine
blotches, streaks, and spots of red, brown, or claret, chiefly towards the
larger end; but in Falcons they are more or less covered with ruddy or
orange markings, which often obliterate the ground-colour. Unspotted
specimens are not uncommon, and in the case of Harriers we have an instance
of a plain bluish coloration, a few rusty stains being exceptionally
visible. Alternative sites are frequently tenanted, or former nests
repaired. Incubation is often of {150}considerable duration, and the young
remain long in the nest–four months, it is said, in the Lämmergeier; the
longevity, too, of Eagles is notorious, a span of a hundred years having
been actually recorded. Unconscious mimicry is shewn by _Accipiter
pileatus_, which assumes the garb of _Harpagus diodon_ near Rio Janeiro.
[Illustration: FIG. 39.–Lämmergeier. _Gypaëtus barbatus._ × ⅛-⅑.]
Sub-fam. 1. _Gypaëtinae._–This group apparently links the Vulturidae to the
Falconidae, but seems nearer to the latter. _Gypaëtus barbatus_, the
magnificent Lämmergeier, is greyish-black with white streaks, and has a
white crown, cheeks with a black band bifurcating at the eye to meet above,
and pale tawny lanceolate plumage on the neck and lower parts. Dense black
bristles cover the nostrils and lores, and a black tuft, which gives the
name of Bearded Vulture, projects below the mandible. The sclerotic
{151}membrane is crimson (p. 147). The young are chiefly brown and buff.
From Portugal and Mauritania this species extends through the lofty
mountains of South Europe to the Himalayas and North China, though
practically exterminated in Switzerland and Carinthia; _G. ossifragus_
(_meridionalis_), with no black stripe below the eye, represents it in
North-Eastern and Southern Africa. Avoiding its own kin, the Lämmergeier
often breeds near Griffon Vultures; the large nest of sticks, lined with
wool and hair, begun very early in the year, being placed in some cavity of
a cliff or on a precipitous ledge, and containing one egg–or rarely
two–which appear pale orange owing to the confluent markings. The flight is
majestic and powerful; the cry weak and querulous, with a croak when
irritated. In parts of Spain and India, natives assert that this bird preys
only on carcases; but in Macedonia it is said to carry off lambs, kids, and
fowls, and no doubt occasionally it kills small mammals and birds, though
all statements should be carefully criticised, as it usurps the name of
"Grifo" or Griffon in Spain, and that of Golden Eagle in India; while
conversely any Eagle is pointed out in the Alps as a Lämmergeier. It has
been credited with a habit of scaring young animals over the cliffs by
descending with a sudden rush, but its nature is cowardly, and it does not
seem to attack man; yet marvellous tales have been told of its strength and
daring, some of which may in part be true, though the evidence is hardly
convincing. Like _Neophron_, it is said to carry bones up into the air,
letting them fall to break them, while land-tortoises are similarly treated
in North Africa, and possibly this species is responsible for the death of
the poet Æschylus, on whose bare head a tortoise is alleged to have been
dropped.[134] _Gypohierax angolensis_, somewhat approaching the Vulturidae,
is white, with the secondaries, most of the scapulars, the tips of the
primaries, and the base of the tail black; the bare skin of the sides of
the face and the feet are flesh-coloured, and the beak is grey-blue. Rare
in East and South Africa, though common in the West, it is generally seen
on lagoons, rivers, or sea-shores, sunning itself on some elevation, or
skimming the water with laboured flight in search of fish. It will attack
animals and eat garbage.
Sub-fam. 2. _Polyborinae._–Of the American "Carrion Hawks," _Polyborus
tharus_ is dull black, with whitish neck, back, breast, {152}and tail, more
or less barred with dusky, and broad blackish tips to the rectrices. The
bare red skin of the cheeks and throat imparts a vulturine look, belied,
however, by the almost gallinaceous feet. It inhabits South America from
Ecuador and Guiana southwards; but thence the very similar _P. cheriway_
ranges to Florida and Lower California, _P. lutosus_ occurring in Guadelupe
Island off the latter. The Carancho or Cáracara, as _P. tharus_ is called,
resembles in habits the "Turkey-Buzzards" (_Rhinogryphus_), with which it
consorts, though somewhat shy and quarrelsome. Semi-gregarious, and
audacious if unmolested, it passes the hot hours in the shade, and roosts
in company at night; while the powerful and graceful flight, with its
alternate sailing or flapping movements, though not rapid, enables it to
soar in spirals to a great altitude. It walks or runs with ease. The
far-reaching grating note is usually uttered with the head thrown back; the
food of refuse and carrion is supplemented by young lambs or alligators,
birds, frogs, reptiles, land-crabs, worms, and insects. When on a tree,
bush, or cliff, the large shallow nest, often renewed yearly, is made of
sticks and lined with grass, leaves, roots, wool, or scraps of any sort;
but, when on the ground or in swamps, reeds and herbage are commonly
utilized. The three or four eggs ranging from white with red blotches to
cinnamon with a few black marks.
_Ibycter_, _Phalcobaenus_, and _Senex_ are kindred Neotropical genera of a
greenish-black colour, with a variable amount of white on the tail, lower
parts, and even the wings and nape; the cheeks and throat are naked and red
in the first, and orange in the second, while the cheeks only are yellow in
the third. _Phalcobaenus_ has a slight crest, _P. carunculatus_ a fleshy
orange caruncle at the base of the bill, _Senex_ rufous thighs. _Ibycter
ater_ occurs in Amazonia, _I. americanus_ from Guatemala and Honduras to
Brazil, _Phalcobaenus megalopterus_ from Chili to West Peru, _P.
carunculatus_ in Ecuador and New Granada, _P. albigularis_ in Patagonia,
while _Senex australis_ is the "Johnny Rook" of the Falklands. Close allies
are _Milvago chimachima_ and _M. chimango_, ranging from Panama to
Paraguay, and from about lat. 20° S. to Tierra del Fuego respectively; the
former is brown, with creamy head, neck, tail, and under-parts, and
rectrices barred with brown; the latter has the head rufous and black, the
lower surface streaky-looking yellowish-brown, the tail greyer. The lores
and naked orbits are pinkish.
These forms are similar in manners to _Polyborus_, but _Milvago_ is
{153}more terrestrial, and chiefly frequents grassy plains; it is moreover
less energetic, and has an easy and loitering though protracted flight,
with a custom of uttering its whistling or mournful notes in chorus, the
head being thrown back as in the Carancho. The nest of sticks, lined with
grass, hair, and wool, may be on trees, in grass, or rushes, _Senex_
preferring sea-girt cliffs; the eggs, from two to five in number, are
cream-coloured, or reddish with darker markings, and vary as in
_Polyborus_. Human beings are very rarely molested by "Carrion Hawks,"
though birds seem to fear them greatly.
Sub-fam. 3. _Accipitrinae._–First of this group may be placed six genera of
"Harrier-Eagles," classed as Circaëtinae by the late J. H. Gurney,[135] of
which _Herpetotheres cachinnans_, ranging from South Mexico to Bolivia and
Paraguay, is the only American representative. It is a crested bird, of a
brown colour above, relieved by creamy buff, which extends over the whole
under surface, the nape and face being mostly black. It eats snakes, and
sits aloft bobbing its head while uttering a gruff "ha-ha." Of the African
genus _Circaëtus_ one species, _C. gallicus_–Jean-le-blanc of the
French–extends from Southern and Central Europe to Palestine, India, North
China, Timor, and Flores. It is dark brown above, and white with
blackish-brown streaks and bars below, the secondaries and tail having
white tips, and the latter three dusky cross-bands. This sluggish but bold
denizen of the plains may be seen perched on trees, quartering the ground
with heavy flapping flight, or anon poising itself aloft on motionless
wings, the harsh noisy cry being varied by a twittering note. Snakes form
its favourite food, while frogs and fish from the shallows, small mammals,
birds, lizards, crabs, and insects add to its daily fare. The bulky nest of
sticks, bedded with grass or green leaves, is situated on trees, bushes, or
even rocky ledges; a single bluish-white egg–or exceptionally two–being
deposited. The female sits very closely, and both parents sometimes attack
intruders. _C. cinereus_, of most of the Ethiopian Region, has the chest
brownish-black and the belly white; _C. fasciolatus_ of Natal, and the
similar _C. beaudouini_ of Senegal and North-East Africa, have the former
part fulvous-brown, and the latter barred with dusky; _C. cinerascens_ of
the east and west of that continent is much greyer below, with narrower
bars. _Helotarsus ecaudatus_ of the whole Ethiopian Region is black, with
maroon back and tail, and a broad grey band across the secondaries;
{154}the wide crest, short rectrices, red cere, lores and feet, rendering
it most remarkable. _H. leuconotus_ is hardly more than a creamy-backed
variety. It sails aloft in powerful style, and dashes like lightning upon
the snakes, mammals, and lizards, which form its prey; the nest of sticks
is placed in trees or rocks, and contains, it is said, from two to four
white eggs. The crested _Eutriorchis_ of Madagascar, and _Dryotriorchis_ of
the Gold Coast, short of wing but long of tail, should probably be placed
here. A fine broad crest also adorns _Spilornis_, of which genus some seven
members occur in the Indian Region, and the Celebes group. _S. undulatus_
(_cheela_), extending from India to China, has the head black and white,
the remaining plumage brown, with whitish markings above, round white spots
below, and a broad light band across the white-tipped tail. _S. sulaënsis_
of the Sula Islands differs in being barred beneath; _S. holospilus_ of the
Philippines has the whole body spotted. These arboreal forms live upon
snakes, frogs, insects, and birds, the last of which they hunt in pairs,
converging gradually on the victim from each side: the note is mournful;
the small nest of twigs, lined with grass or leaves, is placed in trees;
the two eggs are rufous or white with red markings.
The slender _Polyboroïdes typicus_, of most of the Ethiopian Region,
combines the appearance of a Harrier with that of a typical Hawk; it is
grey with white tips to the black remiges and rectrices, and shews black
and white bars on the lower breast and abdomen. A whitish band crosses the
tail, while the naked cheeks and cere are yellow. _P. radiatus_ of
Madagascar is more silvery. Resembling the following group in habits, these
birds prefer grasslands, especially when newly burnt, take comparatively
short flights, and rest more frequently on trees or stumps. They are said
to be able to bend the tibio-tarsal joint either way.
_Circus_, ranging over nearly the whole world, comprises some seventeen
species, in most of which the sexes differ in coloration–an unusual fact in
Raptorial forms. They are graceful and soft-plumaged, with long legs,
wings, and tail, the partial facial ruff creating a likeness–superficial
and not warranted by structure–to the owls. Non-arboreal and by nature shy,
they may be seen hovering or circling aloft, or systematically beating over
the flats with buoyant untiring flight, the pinions flapping slowly and
regularly, and exposing a broad surface to the air. They can, however, move
with rapidity, and approach their breeding-quarters {155}with a fine
downward sweep, an exceptionally bold cock sometimes almost striking an
intruder. The cry, chiefly heard during incubation, is shrill; the food
consists mainly of small mammals, but partially of birds, reptiles, fish,
frogs, insects, or even eggs; the nest, placed among reeds, corn or
herbage, in gorse-coverts or on heathery or grassy slopes, is, according to
circumstances, a pile or layer of the surrounding vegetation lined with the
finer portions, and contains from three to six bluish-white eggs, rarely
blotched with rufous. Nesting-sites in trees are on record. Three species
still breed in Britain, _C. cyaneus_, the Hen Harrier, _C. cineraceus_,
Montagu's Harrier, and _C. aeruginosus_, the Marsh Harrier or Moor Buzzard.
The first two are much alike and easily confounded, the female in both
being brown above and buffish with dark streaks below, while the tail is
crossed by five umber bars. The male, which is bluish-grey with white rump
and abdomen in the Hen Harrier, but is streaked beneath with rufous in the
more slender Montagu's Harrier, is commonly considered a different species
from the female by rustics, who call it the "Kite." These forms range over
Europe, Asia, and North Africa; but whereas the first-named reaches about
lat. 69° N. in summer, and occurs from Morocco and Abyssinia to Canton in
winter, its congener is not found so far north, and migrates down to Cape
Colony, Ceylon, and Burma. _C. aeruginosus_, now nearly exterminated in
Britain, extends from South Scandinavia and Archangel to Japan, and to the
Transvaal and Ceylon in the cold season. The upper parts are brown with
blackish primaries, the remainder of the wings and the tail being grey; the
lower surface is buff with brownish stripes. Old males have the head nearly
cream-coloured, while the irides in the female are rather hazel than
yellow. The North American _C. hudsonius_ is very near _C. cyaneus_; South
America possesses _C. cinereus_, and, on the east, _C. maculosus_; _C.
swainsoni_ reaches from South-East Europe to India and China, with Africa
in winter; _C. ranivorus_ and _C. maurus_ occupy South Africa; _C.
spilonotus_ and _C. melanoleucus_ East Asia, the latter being coloured
black, white, and grey; _C. assimilis_ (_jardinii_)–marked with chestnut
above, and spotted with white below–inhabits Australia and Tasmania; _C.
gouldi_ (_approximans_) the same countries, New Zealand, and Fiji; _C.
wolfi_ New Caledonia, _C. spilothorax_ Papuasia, _C. humbloti_ Madagascar,
and _C. maillardi_ (with its variety _macrosceles_) that island, Réunion,
and Anjuan (Joanna).
{156}_Micrastur_, a genus found in Central and northern South America,
somewhat resembles _Accipiter_, being brown or blackish above, relieved by
rufous or grey and white, and white or reddish below with or without
cross-bars. _Geranospizias_ ranges further south, _G. caerulescens_, which
is slaty-blue, with a few white bands beneath, reaching South Brazil and
Bolivia, while the Central American _G. niger_ is nearly uniform black. The
thighs are closely feathered, and the tibio-tarsal joint is said to act
doubly. Five species of _Melierax_ or "Singing Hawk," reside in the
Ethiopian Region, especially in the south, where _M. canorus_ is plentiful.
This form is ash-coloured with black primaries, black and white tail, and
white belly with greyish bars. The habits are bold, the flight is rapid,
the food consists of small mammals, birds, reptiles, and locusts. The
haunts are in rocky places or bush country; the nest of sticks, lined with
wool and feathers, is placed in a tree, and contains from three to five
whitish eggs. The mellow whistling or piping song is heard chiefly in the
morning and evening, the wide-spread African _Asturinula monogrammica_
alone of the Family vying with it in sweetness.
_Astur_ comprises forty or more members, several of which have exact
counterparts in the genus _Accipiter_.[136] The more robust build, shorter
legs, and stouter toes serve as distinctions; but it must be noted that
short wings, long legs, and bill without a notch mark all Accipitrine as
opposed to Falconine forms. The descriptions below will be sufficient to
shew the coloration, as the species, except _A. novae hollandiae_, are very
similar. Inhabitants of the woodland and river-side, they are nearly
cosmopolitan, though absent in parts of the Neotropical Region and in New
Zealand; while several islands have peculiar races. _A. palumbarius_, the
Goshawk, called of old the "Gentle Falcon," is now seldom observed in
Britain, though once it nested in Scotland; it ranges throughout Europe and
Asia to Morocco, and thence to the Himalayas and Japan, or slightly further
south in winter. It is ashy-brown above, with four dark bands on the
white-tipped tail, and is closely barred with brown and white below. Daring
and rapacious, with marvellous power of steerage, it follows the abruptest
turns of its victims with the greatest ease, gliding after them in a low,
persistent style, termed by falconers "raking." The food consists of small
mammals and birds, but _A. badius_ and _A. tachiro_ will eat {157}frogs,
and the latter limpets; the large flat nest of sticks, rarely lined with
roots, is placed in trees, the bluish-white eggs, numbering from three to
five, being occasionally marked with rust-colour. The barely separable
North American _A. atricapillus_ exhibits very close bars below; the
crested _A. trivirgatus_, ranging from India and the Great Sunda Islands to
Formosa, is slaty-grey, having a rufous chest, a white throat with black
median streak, a tail with four brown bands, and white under parts barred
with rufous and brown; _A. badius_, the Shikra, extending in its various
sub-species from Central Russia, Servia, and Greece to China, and many
parts of Africa, is blue-grey with five or six blackish tail-bands, a less
distinct throat-streak, and salmon-coloured lower surface with narrow white
cross-bars. _A. trinotatus_ of Celebes is blackish-grey, with lighter head,
white spots on the median rectrices, uniform vinous breast, white throat
and vent; the young are ferruginous-red above with black markings. Most
remarkable of all is _A. novae hollandiae_ of Southern Australia and
Tasmania–with its smaller race _A. leucosomus_ of Papuasia and the Cape
York district–pure white in colour, with black bill, yellow cere and red
irides, which some writers consider a permanent albino of _A. cinereus_.
_A. hensti_ and _A. franciscae_ are confined to Madagascar, _A. brutus_ and
_A. pusillus_ to Mayotte and Joanna Islands of the Comoros respectively.
_Nisoïdes moreli_, also from Madagascar, a bird with stout bill and white
irides, closely approaches _Astur_.
_Accipiter_ is a genus of some thirty species, which rival Goshawks in
spirit and daring; they inhabit nearly the whole world, but hardly extend
to Polynesia. The flight is quick and vigorous, with rapid turns; the prey
being captured with a dash as the birds skim through the wooded country
they frequent; while it is subsequently devoured on the ground, as is
customary among Accipitrine forms. The large flat nest of twigs,
occasionally lined with roots or leaves, is placed on a tree or rocky
ledge; about four to six bluish-white eggs, usually with heavy blotches or
spots of red-brown, being laid in the central depression. Very puzzling are
the changes of plumage, though by no means confined to this genus; but the
longitudinal spots below in the young are said generally to change with age
to transverse bars, as is the case in the most typical Falcons.[137]
{158}[Illustration: FIG. 40.–Nest of Sparrow-Hawk. _Accipiter nisus._ (From
_Poachers_.)]
The coloration is well shewn by _Accipiter nisus_, the Sparrow-Hawk, which
breeds throughout Europe, North Africa, and Asia north of the Himalayas;
extending further south in winter, but represented in South Africa by _A.
rufiventris_ and _A. ovampensis_ with white-spotted rectrices. It is
bluish-grey above, with white mottlings on the nape and rufous cheeks, the
white-tipped tail exhibiting from three to five dark bands, and the
buffish-white under parts red-brown bars. Other species are blacker or
browner, or more rufous below; _A. rubricollis_ and _A. erythrauchen_ of
the Moluccas have the nape red; the latter, _A. rhodogaster_ of Celebes,
_A. virgatus_ of India and East Asia (including _A. nisoïdes_), _A.
hartlaubi_ of the Gaboon, and _A. ventralis_ of Venezuela, Colombia, and
Ecuador, have nearly uniform ruddy under parts; _A. erythrocnemis_ of
Brazil and Bolivia, and _A. chionogaster_, ranging from Guatemala to
Venezuela are almost white beneath; _A. bicolor_ of Central and South
America having grey-blue for the white. _A. melanoleucus_ of North-East,
West, and South Africa is deep black, with brown bars on the rectrices, and
some white on the {159}tail-coverts and breast; _A. pectoralis_ of Brazil
is brownish-black above, slightly relieved by white, the tail being greyish
with black bands, the collar and chest rufous, the fore-neck and abdomen
white, streaked and barred respectively with black. _A. minullus_ inhabits
South Africa, _A. madagascariensis_ Madagascar, _A. cirrocephalus_
Australia, Tasmania, and Papuasia, _A. chilensis_ Chili, _A. guttatus_
Paraguay and Bolivia, _A. pileatus_ Brazil, _A. collaris_ New Granada;
while the very robust _A. cooperi_ occupies North America southwards to
Mexico, and _A. fuscus_ the same country to Panama. In _A. subniger_
(_tinus_), of Central and South America, and some other species, the young
are red above. _Erythrotriorchis radiatus_ of East and Central Australia, a
rufous bird with dark markings, which lays an egg like that of a
Sparrow-Hawk, may perhaps be placed here, as may _Megatriorchis doriae_ of
New Guinea, in which the blackish upper parts have lighter transverse
stripes, and the white under parts longitudinal dusky streaks.
Sub-fam. 4. _Aquilinae._–The long-legged _Morphnus guianensis_, ranging
from Panama to Amazonia, is black, with three ashy tail-bars, brown head
and chest, and white rufous-banded abdomen; the fine crest is brown with
black tip, the wing- and tail-coverts are varied with white. This bird
haunts thick woods near water, and in habits appears to resemble the next
two genera, which have similar soft plumage, short wings and long tails.
_M. taeniatus_ of Ecuador has broader and blacker bars below. _Harpyopsis
novae guineae_ of New Guinea, and _Thrasaëtus harpyia_, the Harpy,
extending from Mexico, to Paraguay and Bolivia, have blackish-grey upper
parts with a tendency to darker transverse markings; the tail shews six
black bars; and the white under parts exhibit a greyish zone on the chest.
The former species is, moreover, relieved by white above, while a
bifurcated grey crest surmounts the white head and neck of the latter.
Marvellous stories have been told of the fierceness and strength of the
last-named, but despite its huge bill and legs, it seems never to attack
man, though defending itself with spirit when wounded. Found in low-lying
forests and near rivers, it may be seen wheeling in circles with slow heavy
flight, or digesting its meals on low boughs of trees. The diet consists
largely of mammals, including fawns, monkeys, foxes and peccaries; the nest
is in high trees or cliffs. The Indians are very proud of a living
specimen, while the down is used for decoration, and the feathers for
arrow-making. _Harpyopsis_ devours wallabies.
{160}_Pithecophaga jefferyi_, a fine forest Eagle from the Philippines,
with extremely deep and compressed bill, seems to belong here.[138]
The true Eagles–fierce but seldom courageous–inhabit wild mountains,
plains, or forests; resembling Buzzards in their slow heavy flight, and
rarely uttering their shrill cry or yelp. The prey is generally secured by
a pounce; and carrion, if fairly fresh, is eaten. The nest of sticks or
twigs, lined with grass, green foliage, fur or wool, especially the two
first, contains from one to three large white eggs, with or without red or
brownish markings.
The various species of _Spizaëtus_, _Limnaëtus_, _Lophotriorchis_,
_Lophoaëtus_, _Neopus_, and _Nisaëtus_, with comparatively short wings,
long tails, and large claws, are sometimes denominated Hawk-Eagles. Not
usually shy, they are essentially denizens of wooded country, where some
prefer the hilly districts, others the neighbourhood of streams; the food
is extremely varied, including in different cases, monkeys, bucks, lambs,
goats, hares, rabbits, birds as large as bustards and geese, lizards,
frogs, or even fish; while the flight is more graceful and Falcon-like than
in the genus _Aquila_, the note clearer and sharper. The moderately large
nest is composed of sticks, and usually lined with green leaves or
branchlets; the one or two eggs are white, ordinarily with light
reddish-brown markings. _Spizaëtus coronatus_ of South and West Africa is
blackish above, with a little white on the tail-coverts and remiges, and
brownish tips to the triply-barred rectrices, the buff lower parts being
broadly banded with black. _S. tyrannus_, extending from Guatemala to
Brazil, is black beneath; _S. ornatus_, of Central and South America as far
as Paraguay, has the nape and sides of the neck and chest tawny. These
birds have an occipital crest, as have some members of the hardly separable
_Limnaëtus_, of which _L. caligatus_, of India and the Malay countries,
deep brown in colour, with ashy inner webs to the remiges, will serve as an
example. _L. nipalensis_ and _L. cirrhatus_ inhabit India with Ceylon, and
the former Formosa and Japan; _L. philippensis_ the Philippines; _L.
alboniger_ Malacca and Borneo; _L. lanceolatus_ Celebes and the Sula
Islands; _L. gurneyi_ New Guinea and the Moluccas; _L._ (_Lophotriorchis_)
_kieneri_ India, Malacca, Borneo, and Batchian; _L. isidori_ north-western
South America. _Lophoaëtus occipitalis_, of Africa south of the Sahara, is
brown, except for a few white marks above, and has shortly-feathered white
metatarsi. {161}Here the crest is extremely long, but in the nearly black
_Neopus malayensis_, ranging from India to the Moluccas, it is much
shorter. _Spiziastur melanoleucus_, extending from Guatemala to Brazil, is
brownish-black, with white head, neck, and lower surface, the tail has four
darker bands, and black marks shew towards the crest. In this species the
inner claw and hallux are greatly developed. _Nisaëtus pennatus_, the
"Booted Eagle" of South Europe, Africa, and thence to India and Ceylon, so
called from the feathered legs, is brown above, with a white
shoulder-patch, white tip to the barred tail, and various buffish markings;
the head, neck, and under parts are fawn-coloured, with brown streaks
except on the abdomen. _N. fasciatus_, Bonelli's Eagle, has a similar
range, but reaches China, and not South Africa; it lacks the
shoulder-patch, but is streaked on the abdomen. _N. morphnoïdes_ inhabits
Australia and New Guinea, _N. spilogaster_ and _N. bellicosus_ Southern
Africa, the last being slaty-black above, and having a plain brown chest.
The typical Eagle, the bird of Jove, the emblem of Rome and of St. John,
was some species of _Aquila_. _A. chrysaëtus_, the Golden or Black Eagle,
is exceptionally shot in England in winter–especially in the north; but it
is the Sea Eagle that occurs most frequently. In North Britain the former
has bred in increasing numbers since protection has been given in
deer-forests, where it kills the grouse which startle the stalker's game; a
few pairs remain in North and West Ireland; while in times past it ranged
to the Peak of Derbyshire or even Snowdon. Abroad it occupies most of
Europe, North Asia to India and China, North Africa, and North America to
Mexico. Powerful and fierce by nature, and ready to attack animals of
considerable size, it never molests man under ordinary circumstances; both
parents, it is true, circle anxiously round when the young are in danger,
but should the nest contain eggs, the hen, which sits closely, vanishes at
once on leaving them. She does not reappear until all risk seems past,
while the cock is seldom sighted at the eyry, though usually seen in the
vicinity. The prey consists of antelopes, wolves, foxes, fawns, lambs,
hares, rabbits, marmots, geese, ducks, grouse, and so forth, with carrion,
if sufficiently fresh; the ground is often quartered at a low elevation,
and wonderfully rapid in the chase is the flight of this apparently slow
and ponderous bird, aided by its extraordinarily keen powers of vision.
Solitary individuals may occasionally be approached by stalking, but in
Britain they are generally wary, owing to constant {162}disturbance; they
may, however, often be seen circling aloft or winging their way to great
distances, while they can hardly be distinguished from Buzzards in misty
weather even by experienced keepers. Captures are made with the talons, but
Eagles are comparatively seldom trained for Falconry; yet the present
species has been so used in Europe, as well as by the Kirgiz Tartars, who
call it "Bergut" or "Bearcoot." The cry is shrill and yelping. The nest is
commonly placed in a tree, though in Scotland such sites are seldom
utilized nowadays, a projecting rock on the side of some bare mountain-glen
or a sea-girt crag being selected instead. Here a cavity, rather than a
ledge, is chosen, and a huge mass of sticks or heather is collected, with a
bedding of hair, fur, wool, moss, dry fern and an occasional feather, or
more commonly of tufts of _Luzula sylvatica_, garnished with an odd
pine-shoot. Two or three eyries are often used in turn, the pile increasing
on each occasion. At times the spot can be reached without a rope by a
skilful climber, and in some countries nests have been found upon the
ground. The two or three eggs–four being quite exceptional–are generally
marked with red-brown, crimson, purplish or grey, but, though fine blotches
are usual, one if not more of the set is frequently white. They are laid
very early in spring and–as in other Birds of Prey–not always on successive
days. The Golden Eagle is distinguished from the Sea-Eagle (p. 163) by the
feathering reaching to the toes, which have only the last joint
scutellated, and the remainder reticulated: the adult is normally
blackish-brown, with tawny lanceolate nape-plumes and tail mottled with
grey; the young have white bases to the rectrices. The colour, however,
varies much.
_Aquila clanga_, the Spotted Eagle of British lists, and its smaller form,
_A. pomarina_, range across Europe, except the most northern portions, and
extend to North Africa, India, and North China, their respective
distributions being somewhat uncertain. The colour is brown, with pale nape
and light margins to the feathers of the wings and rump; the manners are
those of Eagles generally, but the food includes frogs, reptiles, and
grasshoppers, in addition to small mammals and birds. _A. hastata_ of India
is hardly separable, and the African _A. wahlbergi_ is very similar, as is
the larger _A. nipalensis_, the Steppe Eagle of the former country, Eastern
Europe, Eastern Asia, and, exceptionally, North Africa, a plain brown bird
with a fulvous nuchal patch. It commonly builds its nest {163}upon the
ground. _A. adalberti_, the White-shouldered Eagle of Portugal, Spain, and
North-West Africa–often wrongly called "Imperial,"–preys upon lizards,
snakes, hares and rabbits, which it usually spies from a perch on some bare
tree-top. It is black, with brownish neck, greyish base to the tail, and a
broad white shoulder-patch, whereas _A. mogilnik_, the true Imperial Eagle,
ranging from Central Europe and North-East Africa to India and China,
differs in having the head and neck creamy yellow, and only the scapulars
white. _A. rapax_ (_naevioïdes_), the Tawny Eagle of most of Africa, rarely
found in Europe, is remarkable for the parti-coloured feathers of
purplish-brown and rufous on the upper parts; otherwise it is brown,
slightly streaked with fulvous below. The smaller _A. vindhiana_ and _A.
fulvescens_ of India are very like it, while _A. verreauxi_ of Abyssinia
and South Africa is jet black with white rump and lower back. _Uroaëtus
audax_ of Australia and Tasmania is black, and has a wedge-shaped tail, the
bright chestnut nape being streaked with black, and the head with white.
Of the Sea Eagles, characterized by very large bills and nearly bare
metatarsi, the biggest is the fish-eating _Thalassaëtus pelagicus_, brown
in colour, with white cuneate tail, rump, thighs, and patch on the
wing-coverts. It inhabits the coasts, lakes, and rivers of North East Asia,
the Liu-Kiu Islands and Japan, rarely wandering to America. _T. branickii_
of Corea is slaty-black, with only the tail and its coverts white.
_Haliaëtus albicilla_, the Erne or Sea-Eagle, of which a few pairs remain
in Shetland and the west of Scotland and Ireland, used to breed at least as
far south in England as the Isle of Man and the Lake District, while in
winter immature or even adult specimens still frequently occur in various
parts. Generally distributed over the Old World from Greenland to
Kamtschatka, it breeds also in the Danube valley, Turkey, Greece, and
Egypt, migrating to the Canary Islands, North Africa, Japan, China, and
occasionally the Commander Islands. It is brown with white tail, the full
plumage not being attained for nearly six years; but very old examples
become whitish on the head and neck. In most of its habits it resembles the
Golden Eagle, though the note is shriller, and the food consists largely of
fish, seized in the talons as it swoops down; it is said to be very
destructive to lambs, and, as it eats carrion, it is readily poisoned. In
Britain the eyries are now in precipitous sea-cliffs, but of old inland
rocks and trees were utilized, as is the case abroad, while {164}in Egypt
nests have been found upon the ground in marshes; the two or three white
eggs, laid early in the year, are rarely marked with rufous. The
representative American species _H. leucocephalus_, the Bald Eagle, has the
head, neck, rump, and tail white, and ranges from the North to California
and Mexico. _H. leucocoryphus_, with the middle of the tail and the cheeks
white, extends from South-East Europe to East Siberia, China, and Burma;
_H. leucogaster_, a greyer bird with white head, neck, under parts, and end
of the tail, occurs from India and China to Australia and the Friendly
Islands; _H. vocifer_ with white head, neck, breast, and tail, but chestnut
belly, occupies the Ethiopian Region; _H. vociferoïdes_ of Madagascar is
intermediate between the last-named and _H. leucocoryphus_. The
river-haunting _Polioaëtus ichthyaëtus_, of the Indian Region and Celebes,
is brown, with grey head and neck, white abdomen and tail, the latter
broadly tipped with brown; _P. plumbeus_, of similar range, lacks the white
base of the tail. The huge nest is placed in a tree and is often lined with
green leaves, the two or three eggs being white; the note is loud and
plaintive, and the food consists chiefly of fish.
Sub-fam. 5. _Buteoninae_, or Buzzards and Kites.–In this group the
Rough-legged Buzzards (_Archibuteo_) are separated from the genus _Buteo_
on account of their feathered metatarsi. _A. lagopus_, well-known in
Britain from the numbers which frequently appear in autumn, is alleged to
have bred once in Yorkshire, while in Northern Europe it is common,
extending thence to about the Lena in Asia, and migrating in winter to
South Europe, Turkestan, and even Natal. At the same season a darker
sub-species _A. sancti johannis_, which breeds north of the United States,
occurs southwards to Mexico. The former bird is cream-coloured, with brown
markings of various depth, becoming more streaky below; the tail shews a
white base and three or four dark cross-bars, of which the sub-terminal is
very broad. In Scandinavia, when there is a plague of lemmings, it is as
valuable an ally as the owls; the habits being identical with those of
_Buteo_. _A. ferrugineus_ of western North America has the upper surface
and thighs ferruginous with brown streaks, the head, neck, and tail whiter,
and the under parts nearly pure white. _A. hemiptilopus_ (_strophiatus_) of
Nepal and Tibet is nearly uniform brown with a white pectoral band.
_Buteo_ is a genus of some thirty species, which together inhabit nearly
the whole globe, except the Australian region; the {165}only form thence
recorded seeming to be _B. solitarius_ of the Sandwich Archipelago–the
_Pandion solitarius_ of Cassin and so-called _Onychotes gruberi_ of Mr.
Ridgway. All may be represented both in appearance and manners by _B.
vulgaris_, the Common Buzzard, which breeds not uncommonly in a few wild
districts of Britain, chiefly towards the west, and is found on migration
in other parts. Abroad the range includes the Atlantic Islands, West and
Central Europe, whence it strays at times to Eastern Europe, Asia Minor,
and North Africa; the resident bird of those countries, however, is _B.
desertorum_. The colour above is brown, with slight white marks and twelve
dusky bars on the tail, the lower surface being yellowish-white with brown
streaks; but varieties are very frequent in the genus, and these may be
either darker or exhibit creamy tints, a trimorphic tendency of which the
Sandwich Islands form is a notable instance. The English name Puttock and
the Welsh Cetn appear to be applied indiscriminately to the Common Buzzard
and the Kite. The flight is powerful, though slow and heavy, nor is it
uncommon to see individuals circling in the air or poising themselves aloft
on motionless wings; when quartering the ground the movements are not
unlike those of Harriers, but the style is more steady, and the operations
less protracted. Much of the food consists of small mammals, and especially
rodents; it includes, however, small birds, reptiles, frogs, beetles, and
grasshoppers; and many gamekeepers now recognise the bird's utility by
protecting its breeding-quarters. Its congener _B. jakal_ is even more
useful, and destroys large or venomous snakes. Furthermore, the custom of
darting upon the prey from some post of vantage remains to be noticed. The
nest, commonly situated in trees, is equally often in rocks; those selected
not being necessarily lofty, but frequently mere outcrops on the sides of
hill-valleys, in which case access is easy even without a rope. The
materials used are much the same as in the case of the Golden Eagle, but
finer; a like fancy being shewn for green foliage, though ivy and so forth
take the place of pine-shoots, as being more readily obtainable. The eggs
are white or greenish, commonly blotched or spotted to a greater or less
extent with dark brown, red, or lilac; the hen sits very closely, the cock
meanwhile soaring above the intruder's head, and uttering his
characteristic cat-like mew. _B. desertorum_, of all Africa, South-East
Europe, and the countries to India inclusive, which has been {166}recorded
three times in England, is smaller and more decidedly rufous than _B.
vulgaris_, though hardly distinguishable when immature; while the bigger
_B. ferox_ of similar range, though apparently limited in Africa to the
North, is closely allied; as are _B. plumipes_, extending from India to
Japan (of which _B. leucocephalus_ is a large and probably distinct form)
and _B. swainsoni_ of North America, which migrates as far south as
Patagonia, and has almost uniform upper parts and chest. _B. borealis_, the
"Red-tailed Hawk," occupying with its various races the whole of North
America, has a rufous tail with lighter tip and usually a single blackish
band, the breast being sooty-black or white, with or without a reddish
tinge; _B. albicaudatus_, reaching from Texas to Brazil, is slaty-grey,
with rusty markings on the mantle, white under parts and tail, the latter
showing grey bars and a wide subterminal black cross-belt; while _B.
abbreviatus_, found from the southern United States to northern South
America, is almost black, with three broad grey and white zones across the
rectrices. _B. augur_ and _B. auguralis_, both from North-East and West
Africa, with _B. jakal_ of South Africa, have the upper parts black, some
grey on the wings, and the tail chestnut except near the end. The first has
a black throat with white streaks and white lower surface, the second a
red-brown chest and black spots on the belly, the third is black below with
a whitish pectoral patch. Finally, omitting several American species from
want of space, _B. brachypterus_–a miniature Common Buzzard–is peculiar to
Madagascar, _B. galapagensis_ to the Galapagos, _B. exsul_ to Masafuera,
_B. poliosomus_ to Chili, Patagonia, and the Falklands.
_Parabuteo unicinctus_, ranging from the southern United States to Chili
and Argentina, a sluggish carrion eater, is sooty-brown with rufous on the
wing-coverts and thighs, and a white base and tip to the tail. _Buteola
brachyura_ and _B. leucorrhoa_ of tropical America, separated from _Buteo_
by a central tubercle in the nostril, are black above; the former being
white below and having four dark bars on the ashy tail, the latter only
shewing white at the base of the black rectrices, which are crossed by one
grey bar.
_Asturina_, placed near _Astur_ by some authors, includes two species with
Buzzard-like habits, that build slight nests and lay greenish-white eggs.
_A. plagiata_, found from the South-West United States to Panama, is grey,
barred with black on the primaries and with white below, while a white
median band {167}crosses the rectrices, of which the coverts are black and
white. _A. nitida_, reaching from Panama to south-east Brazil, differs in
having white bars above. _Rupornis magnirostris_ of Colombia, Guiana, and
Amazonia–hardly separable from _Asturina_–has three black belts on the tail
and is rufous instead of grey beneath; _R. ruficauda_ of Central America,
_R. pucherani_ of Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina, and its Bolivian race
_R. saturata_, have the chestnut remiges and rufous rectrices crossed with
blackish, and the under surface as in the first-named, but the second is
browner and shows a creamy patch on the primaries; _R. nattereri_, of Peru
and Brazil, combines the chestnut primaries with an ashy and black tail;
_R. ridgwayi_, of Haiti, is chiefly rufous and brown above, and
slate-coloured with white bands below. _R. pucherani_ is very noisy and
eats fish.
_Butastur teesa_ (with its sub-species _indicus_) ranges from Japan and
China to New Guinea and India; it is reddish-brown, varied with white on
the nape and rump, the tail and lower parts being rufous, with black and
white bars respectively. _B. liventer_, found from Burma to Celebes, is
ashy below; _B. rufipennis_ of North-East Africa, has streaks in place of
bars. The pugnacious Indian form has a mewing cry, feeds upon small
mammals, lizards, frogs, and crabs, and builds its nest almost entirely of
twigs, laying some three bluish-white eggs. _Geranoaëtus melanoleucus_ of
western and southern South America, the so-called Chilian "Sea-Eagle," is
black with grey wings and white belly, both barred with dusky; the flight
is vulturine with spiral gyrations, the note is piercing; the food consists
of carrion from the beach, small mammals, birds, and grasshoppers. The
nest, placed in a tree or crag, is composed of sticks and grass, the two
white eggs being blotched with pale red. It is often seen inland.
_Leucopternis_ is a genus of eleven members, of which _L. ghiesbreghti_, of
Central America, is snowy-white, with most of the wings and a zone on the
tail black. The other forms, whereof three inhabit Brazil, are black or
slate-coloured above with white markings, the lower surface being grey in
_L. plumbea_ of Ecuador and Panama and _L. schistacea_ of Colombia and
Amazonia, but barred with black and white in _L. princeps_, of Costa Rica.
_Urubitinga zonura_, a black bird with white tip and base to the tail,
ranges from Mexico to Chili and Argentina; {168}_U. anthracina_, found from
Arizona and Texas to northern South America, has in addition a white belt
across the rectrices.
The crested _Harpyhaliaëtus coronatus_, extending from Bolivia and Brazil
to Patagonia, a powerful and savage bird with a taste for carrion, is
chocolate-brown, with grey on the wing, and a tail like that of the last
species; _H. solitarius_, darker in colour and doubtfully distinct,
reaching Mexico northwards. _Heterospizias meridionalis_, of northern South
America to Bolivia and Paraguay, is mottled with rufous, grey, and black,
and has two white bands on the tail. _Buteogallus aequinoctialis_, of
Guiana and Colombia, is black relieved with rusty above, and reddish with
black bars below, the remiges being chiefly chestnut, and the tail
indistinctly barred with white. _Busarellus nigricollis_, of Guiana and
Brazil, is brighter chestnut with black streaks, the head being buffish,
the lower throat, primaries, and most of the tail black. It has a harsh
cry, and loves sitting on stumps near water, while the rugose soles of the
feet assist it to secure the fishes and molluscs on which it–as well as
_Buteogallus_–feeds.
Of the forms with comparatively weaker feet, _Haliastur indus_, the
"Brahminy Kite" or "Pondicherry Eagle," reaching from the Indian Region to
Australia and New Guinea, is chestnut with darker wings, the white head,
neck, and lower parts being streaked with black; _H. sphenurus_, of the two
latter countries and New Caledonia, named by colonists the "Whistling
Kite," is ashy-brown, with rufous head and ochraceous breast striped with
brown. The note is shrill, the flight easy and buoyant, the food composed
of garbage, small mammals, birds, lizards, frogs, crustaceans, insects and
their larvae; while fish are secured by grasping them with one foot during
gliding movements along the surface of the water. The Australian species
attacks poultry, but is of great utility in devouring caterpillars during
insect-plagues. The nest of twigs, lined with grass, roots, hair, or green
leaves, is adorned with rags and the like, the two or three eggs being
greenish-white, rarely with rusty markings.
_Milvus ictinus_, the Red Kite or Fork-tailed Glead of the Old World,
ranging from the Atlantic Islands–except, perhaps, the Azores–through most
of Europe to Palestine, Asia Minor, and Northern Africa, but leaving the
northerly districts in autumn, is red-brown above and rusty-red beneath,
the lower surface and the whitish head being streaked with dark brown.
{169}[Illustration: FIG. 41.–Red Kite. _Milvus ictinus._ × ⅛. (From _Bird
Life in Sweden_.)]
It is still known to breed in certain parts of Northern and Western
Britain, though no longer the ubiquitous scavenger of the streets, so
common even in London three or four centuries ago. Bold thefts of poultry
from farmyards and linen from drying-grounds then counterbalanced its
utility, but none the less may we regret the almost total extermination of
this fine tenant of the air, caused by the increase of fire-arms and the
discovery that its tail-feathers make the choicest salmon-flies. Not unlike
a Buzzard when aloft, the shrill whistling note, when heard, constitutes a
clear mark of distinction; while the broad wings and long deeply-forked
tail bestow such graceful ease of motion and perfect steerage power as few
birds can claim, whether for soaring and circling aloft, quartering the
ground for booty, or hovering over the water to fish. It is not always,
however, that the forked character of the tail is apparent, for when fully
open it looks square, just as a square tail seems rounded. This species
{170}is somewhat gregarious and sluggish, and feeds on offal, small
mammals, birds, reptiles, fish, amphibians, insects and their larvae. The
nest is a mass of sticks, rags, paper, and rubbish generally, placed in a
tree or rarely in a rock; the three, or exceptionally four, eggs being like
those of the Buzzard, but duller and with more lilac tints. _Milvus
migrans_, the Black Kite, once recorded in England, extends throughout
Central and Southern Europe, and probably to China, breeding in
North-Western and migrating to Southern Africa. The upper parts are dark
brown, the under parts rufous, and the head whitish, the two latter being
streaked with dusky; the bill is black and the tail moderately forked.
Barely separable from this bird are _Milvus aegyptius_ of Africa,
Madagascar, South-East Europe, and West Asia, with yellow bill; _M.
affinis_, of Papuasia and Australia, possibly reaching Ceylon; _M.
melanotis_, extending from India to Lake Baikal, China, and Japan; and the
smaller _M. govinda_ of somewhat similar range. The third and fourth have a
white patch beneath the primaries. The last-named, or Pariah Kite, is the
scavenger of Hindostan, and is even bolder than its congeners; the habits,
however, are similar, as are those of the Australian _Lophoictinia isura_,
separated from _Milvus_ on account of its square tail. This species has a
fine crest, and differs, moreover, in its browner crown and greyer
rectrices with whitish coverts.
_Gypoictinia melanosternon_ of Australia has a black head and lower
surface, chestnut occiput, nape, and thighs, and brownish- or rufous-black
upper parts, the wings and rounded tail being marked with greyish white.
Like a Kite in manners, it eats snakes and lizards, and is said to destroy
Bustard's and Emeu's eggs.[139] _Elanoïdes furcatus_, the lovely
Swallow-tailed Kite, caught once in England, and ranging from the Middle
United States to Brazil, is black, with purple and green reflexions, white
head, neck, rump, inner secondaries and under parts, bluish bill and feet.
With splendid powers of wing, it may be seen gliding rapidly through the
air, skilfully quartering the ground, or circling aloft with its long
forked tail outspread, to perform doublings and evolutions of every
description. It catches bees or other insects in one claw and eats them as
it flies, or snatches up a lizard, snake, or frog, to be devoured at
leisure, small birds and grubs varying the diet. Flocks are often seen,
which {171}hang round a wounded individual like Terns. In the nest and eggs
this species and the last resemble their kin, though using no rubbish in
building. _Nauclerus riocouri_, of inter-tropical Africa, a miniature
_Elanoïdes_, is grey, with white face and lower surface.
_Gampsonyx swainsoni_, of Trinidad, Guiana, Colombia, Peru, and Brazil, is
grey, with yellow face, white collar, under parts and tips to the
secondaries; a black patch relieving each side of the breast and one of red
the upper back. The tail is rounded in this and the succeeding genus.
_Elanus caeruleus_, the Black-winged Kite, straying to South-West Europe,
but properly ranging from the South-East to India, Ceylon, and all Africa,
is ashy-grey above with a black patch on the wing-coverts; the face,
lateral rectrices, and all the lower plumage being white, and the irides
red. A sub-species, _E. hypoleucus_, occupies Borneo, Java, the
Philippines, and Celebes. _E. scriptus_ of Australia, _E. axillaris_,
extending thence to Java, and the hardly separable _E. leucurus_ of
tropical and sub-tropical America, are marked with black on the under
wing-coverts, while the first has black axillaries also. These buoyant
birds are fond of perching, but soar with ease, quartering the plains like
Harriers, or hovering with uplifted wings to dart down upon their prey of
insects, snakes, small mammals, and more rarely birds. The cry is mournful;
the small nest, of sticks, grass, and moss, is placed in trees; the three,
four, or even eight white eggs being heavily blotched with red. _Ictinia
mississippiensis_, the Mississippi Kite, found from the Southern United
States to Guatemala, and represented from Mexico to Paraguay by the
black-winged _I. plumbea_, is lead-coloured, with black notched tail and
rufous inner webs to the primaries; its manners correspond to those of
_Elanoïdes_, but the eggs are white.
That most abnormal form _Rostrhamus sociabilis_, the Awl-billed or
Everglade Kite, ranging from Florida and Cuba to Bolivia and Argentina, is
slaty-black, with white base and tip to the brownish emarginate tail,
orange cere and feet, and crimson irides. The extraordinarily slender bill
with long terminal hook no doubt assists greatly in extracting from their
shells the molluscs, such as _Ampullaria_, on which this species entirely
subsists, while its long legs and sharp talons help to secure the prey in
the muddy swamps it frequents. Mr. Gibson[140] tells us that it is to some
extent gregarious, and is often seen slowly beating over the {172}marshes,
or poised aloft with its broad expanded tail alone in motion, a "creaking"
or "neighing" alarm-note being apparently the only cry. Twenty or thirty
nests are commonly built close together, and are slight platforms of twigs
or plant-stems, with a lining of aquatic herbage, supported on the reeds or
bushes a few feet above the water. The two or three eggs are whitish with
reddish- or yellowish-brown and grey blotches. The breeding-quarters are
constantly changed.
_Machaerorhamphus alcinus_, of Tenasserim, Malacca, Borneo, Sumatra, and
New Guinea, is especially remarkable for the wide gape of the short bill,
which recalls that of the Caprimulgidae. All the tail-coverts are unusually
elongated, a fine crest of pointed feathers adorns the occiput, and the
plumage is black with a chocolate tinge, the throat and middle of the chest
being white, with a broad black streak down the former. _M. anderssoni_, of
Damara-Land, the Cameroons, and Madagascar, known to have crepuscular
tendencies and to feed partly on bats, is smaller, and has a white abdomen;
_M. revoili_, of Somali-Land, is intermediate.
_Pernis apivorus_, the Honey-Buzzard, which still breeds occasionally in
Britain in June, when the dense foliage easily causes it to be overlooked,
inhabits Europe generally, and probably extends to Japan, migrating in
winter to Madagascar and South Africa. The extremely complex phases of
plumage make it uncertain whether it shares the Indian Region with the
similar but crested _P. ptilorhynchus_ (_cristatus_), from which _P.
tweeddalii_, of Sumatra, is doubtfully separable. The upper parts are
brown, with greyish head and three or four dark bands on the tail, the
lower white with brown spots and bars. White mottlings usually shew above,
and the female has the crown brown. The shortly-feathered lores distinguish
_Pernis_ from _Buteo_. Our woodland species feeds upon the ground, and
devours bees, wasps, and grubs–though not honey–from the comb, together
with small mammals, birds, slugs, and worms; the cry is shrill, but seldom
heard; the nest, composed of sticks lined with leaves, contains two or
three whitish eggs with rich purplish-red or brown markings. _P.
celebensis_ differs in the rufous chest, which exhibits black streaks, that
are continued to the white throat with its black longitudinal band; the
adult closely resembles _Limnaëtus lanceolatus_, both being peculiar to
Celebes. _Henicopernis longicaudatus_, of Papuasia, is brown barred with
black above, and white streaked with blackish below, {173}the tail shewing
five black bands; _H. infuscatus_, of New Britain, is a darker race.
_Regerhinus uncinatus_, and the larger _R. megarhynchus_, found from
Central America to Bolivia and Brazil, are dusky slate-coloured with a
white tail-bar; _R. wilsoni_, of Cuba, has a yellow bill; _R._ (_Leptodon_)
_cayennensis_ is glossy black, with grey head, wing and tail-bands, and
white lower surface. Immature birds are brown, with rufous and white
streaks or bars below.
Sub-fam. 6. _Falconinae._–The true Falcons are remarkable for a notched
maxilla, while _Harpagus_ and the crested _Baza_, aberrant members of the
group, and sometimes classed with the Kites, exhibit two "teeth." _B.
lophotes_, of India, Ceylon, and the Malay countries, is greenish-black
above, varied with white and chestnut on the wings; the fore-neck being
white, and the breast shewing a band of black above one of chestnut, which
is barred with buff towards the black vent. _B. verreauxi_, occurring from
the Zambesi to Natal, is dark brownish-grey, with four black bars on the
white-tipped tail, and rufous bands across the white breast and under
wing-coverts; _B. cuculoïdes_, of West Africa, having the latter plain
rufous. The somewhat similar _B. subcristata_ occupies North-East
Australia, _B. rufa_ inhabits the Moluccas and Papuasia, _B. timorlaensis_
Timor-laut, _B. erythrothorax_ Celebes and the Sula Islands, _B.
magnirostris_ the Philippines, _B. borneensis_ Borneo, _B. leucopais_
Paláwan, _B. sumatrensis_ Sumatra, Tenasserim, and Sikkim, _B. ceylonensis_
Ceylon and South-East India, _B. madagascariensis_ Madagascar, and _B.
reinwardti_, with grey-barred breast, the Moluccas, Timor, and Papuasia.
Comparatively little is known of the habits of these shy forest forms,
which occasionally soar, feed upon the ground on chamaeleons, grasshoppers
and other insects, build small nests, and lay about three whitish eggs with
brown markings. _Harpagus diodon_, of British Guiana and Brazil, is grey,
with brown wings and tail barred with whitish, white throat with a black
streak, rufous thighs and under wing-coverts. _H. bidentatus_, extending
from Panama to Brazil and Peru, has chestnut under parts, _H. fasciatus_
being hardly separable.
Of the tiny eastern "Finch-falcons," _Microhierax fringillarius_,
inhabiting the Malay Peninsula and Great Sunda Islands, is bluish-black,
with rufous throat and abdomen, the breast, forehead, a stripe down each
side of the neck, and partial bars on the wings and tail being white. It is
a bold dashing species, which feeds upon insects and birds–even as large as
quails, and lays four white eggs in holes {174}in trees upon a bed of
chips, leaves, and insect-débris. _M. latifrons_, of Borneo and the
Nicobars, has a much wider frontal band; _M. melanoleucus_ of Assam and
Cachar, _M. erythrogenys_ of the Philippines, and _M. sinensis_ of China
are quite white below; but the second has black thighs and the third a
white nape, a character shared by _M. eutolmus_, ranging from India to
Cambodia, wherein the throat and abdomen are chestnut. _Poliohierax
semitorquatus_, little bigger than the foregoing, inhabits North-East and
South Africa, the male being blue-grey with white forehead, cheeks, nape,
rump, under parts and markings on the remiges and rectrices; _P. insignis_
of Borneo and Siam is larger, with black shaft-stripes, but no white
collar. The females have the mantle, and in the last-named the crown,
chestnut. The African species rarely soars, but haunts low trees and
bushes, occasionally flocking, and feeding on mice, small birds, lizards,
and coleopterous insects. _Spiziapteryx circumcinctus_, of Chili and
Argentina, is brown above and whitish below, with numerous dark streaks;
the white eyebrows meet at the nape, and white spots and bands mark the
remiges and lateral rectrices.
_Dissodectes ardesiacus_, of Arabia, North-East and West Africa, is
slate-coloured with dark shaft-stripes, the wing-quills being brown and the
tail interruptedly barred with whitish. _D. dickinsoni_ of Benguela, the
Shiré and Rovuma valleys, is brown with pale head and white rump; _D.
zoniventris_ of Madagascar has dark bands on the mantle and on the white
under parts. _Hieracidea_ (_Harpa_) _novae zealandiae_, the Quail Hawk of
New Zealand and the Chatham Islands, is dark brown with rufous and grey
barring above; the crown and nape being blacker, the tail shewing eight
whitish bands, and the creamy-white lower surface and fulvous thigh-region
exhibiting streaks of brown. It may be seen soaring over the plains and
lower hills, hovering with expanded tail, or pouncing like an arrow on the
rodents, birds, and lizards which form its food. Insects too are captured
on the wing, and poultry fiercely attacked. The cry is screaming; the eggs
resemble those of the Peregrine Falcon, and are deposited in hollows
scraped on rocky ledges, or occasionally in rough nests among thick
creepers. A smaller and bolder race has been termed _H. ferox_ or
_brunnea_, the Bush-Hawk. _H. berigora_ of Australia and New Guinea has
brown upper parts, with rufous markings that become bands on the
white-tipped tail, creamy under parts streaked with {175}brown, and
chestnut thighs. _H. orientalis_ of the same countries lacks the red tints,
_H. novae guineae_ of New Guinea is less spotted. These three Kestrel-like
birds love swampy districts, and devour small mammals, birds, frogs,
lizards, newts, insects, and even carrion; being valuable allies in
caterpillar-plagues, but farmyard pests at ordinary times. The nest of
sticks, lined with bark or leaves, is placed in trees, the three or four
whitish eggs are blotched with reddish-brown.
The nearly cosmopolitan genus _Tinnunculus_ (Kestrel), so called from its
querulous "bell-like" note, is separated from _Falco_ rather by pattern of
colour than structural considerations. _T. alaudarius_, the most plentiful
of the British Falconidae–which is occasionally seen in winter near its
breeding-quarters, though chiefly a summer immigrant–ranges from the
Atlantic Islands and lat. 68° N. in Europe, through Asia to Japan and
China, reaching Fantee and Mombasa in Africa, and having been once recorded
from Massachusetts in America. The sub-species _neglectus_, _japonicus_,
and _saturatus_ are darker than the type; wherein the male is chiefly
bluish-grey above, and buff with black spots and streaks below; the
chestnut back being spotted with black, and the white-tipped tail having a
broad subterminal black band. The female has rufous upper parts, with dark
bars continued down the tail. The Kestrel or Wind-hover is a shy arboreal
bird of somewhat crepuscular tendencies, generally observed circling
gracefully aloft in readiness to drop upon its prey, or "hovering" with
rapid vibrations of the long wings, the tail expanded and the head to
windward. Small mammals and coleoptera furnish most of the food, a few
birds–very seldom game–lizards, frogs, worms, grasshoppers, and
insect-larvae varying the diet. Its great utility is now generally
recognised, while sensible keepers should be fast learning that all Hawks
and Owls are not vermin. It rarely builds its own nest, but occupies
deserted habitations of Crows, Pies, and other birds, relined sparingly
with twigs and grass, or scrapes a cup in the soil of some ledge or cavity
of a cliff. At times hollow trees, ruins, and chalk-pits are chosen, or
even level ground in the fens–pellets of bones, feathers, fur, and beetles'
elytra commonly marking the spot. The four to six eggs are creamy-white,
blotched or thickly mottled with bright or dull red. _T. cenchris_, the
Lesser Kestrel, with white claws, and unspotted back in the male, has four
or five times {176}wandered to England, and ranges from the Pyrenees,
Styria, and the Orenburg district to Bokhara and North Africa. It sometimes
occurs further north, and in winter reaches Cape Colony; the Indian and
Chinese race, distinguished as _T. pekinensis_, having strayed to the
Transvaal. _T. sparverius_, the "Sparrow-Hawk" of America from the Great
Slave Lake to Colombia, which occasionally feeds on snakes, and breeds in
Woodpeckers' holes, has two sub-species, _T. cinnamominus_ of Central and
South America and _T. caribbaearum_ of the Antilles. _T. dominicensis_
(_sparverioïdes_) inhabits Cuba and St. Domingo, and occurs in Florida; _T.
isabellinus_ ranges from Georgia to northern South America; _T. alopex_
from Nubia to Bogos-Land; _T. rupicolus_ and the more northern _T.
rupicoloïdes_ occupy South Africa; _T. gracilis_ the Seychelles; _T.
punctatus_ Mauritius; _T. newtoni_ Madagascar; _T. moluccensis_ the
Moluccas and the Sunda Islands; _T. cenchroïdes_ Australia and Tasmania. It
is remarkable that no Kestrel inhabits Jamaica or Bourbon, though Cuba and
Mauritius are respectively so near them.
_Erythropus vespertinus_, the Red-footed Falcon, which wanders to Britain,
but breeds from Eastern Europe and Algeria to Krasnoiarsk, where it meets
the Eastern Asiatic _E. amurensis_, is lead-grey in the male, with browner
tail, chestnut thighs and vent region; the female being barred with
blackish above, and having the head, nape, and under surface rufous. The
cere, orbits, and feet are red. Both forms migrate to South Africa, keeping
more to the west and east respectively; the latter, which crosses India and
Burma, being distinguished in the male by white under wing-coverts, and in
the female by the absence of rufous on the head, neck, and brown-spotted
breast. In general habits like Kestrels, these birds are more gregarious,
and breed in company.
_Hypotriorchis subbuteo_, the Hobby, nests sporadically in England, and
extends thence to North Africa and Japan, occurring in the Canaries and
migrating to South Africa, North India, and China. Both sexes are
slate-coloured, having buff lower parts with black streaks, reddish vent,
white throat and sides of the neck, and a black stripe down the latter.
This bold and dashing little Falcon, easily recognisable by the extremely
long wings, which give it a Swift-like appearance, is usually seen poised
aloft, or rapidly pursuing the insects and birds which form its food. The
note is shrill; the three to five eggs resemble closely freckled pinkish
specimens of those of the Kestrel, and are {177}deposited late in the
season in disused birds' nests. The statement that it broods on the eggs of
the Kestrel needs further proof. _H. eleonorae_, the largest Old World
species of the genus, occupying the Mediterranean basin from Spain and the
Atlas to the Levant, while straying to Mauritius, is uniform sooty-black;
but some individuals never become sooty, and immature examples precisely
resemble the Hobby. The habits are like those of its congener, but the two
or three eggs are larger, and are laid in holes in cliffs, or upon the bare
soil on stony flats of desolate islands. The very similar _H. concolor_
ranges from the Red Sea to Madagascar; _H. cuvieri_ inhabits the Ethiopian
Region; _H. ophryophanes_ is described from Colonia; _H. severus_ extends
from India and Ceylon to New Britain, but not to Australia; _H. lunulatus_
from Flores to the Duke of York Island, with Australia and Tasmania; _H.
fusco-caerulescens_ and _H. rufigularis_ from Mexico to Argentina, the
former moreover reaching the southern United States and Patagonia. The
powerful _H. diroleucus_–perhaps referable to the genus _Falco_–occurs from
South Mexico to Peru and Brazil.
_Aesalon regulus_, the Merlin, called the Stone-Falcon from its habit of
perching on rocks, is a lively and interesting little species, daring yet
confiding, which preys chiefly upon small birds, and flies less swiftly
than the Hobby, though both are used for Lark-hawking. The shrill note is
chiefly heard at the breeding-quarters, which in Britain are generally on
steep hill-slopes, especially where stony outcrops break the heather or
grass; from four to six eggs–duller and less blotched than those of the
Kestrel, being deposited in a hole scraped in the bare ground. Abroad–and
exceptionally in Scotland–old nests in trees or rocky ledges are utilized,
and the bird is perhaps occasionally its own architect. Fairly common north
of Derbyshire its summer range extends over the moorlands from Shetland to
Devonshire, and includes Ireland, while it visits the sea-coast in autumn.
It occurs accidentally in Greenland, and reaches thence to the Pyrenees and
the Alps, being found across Northern and Central Europe and Asia, and
migrating to North Africa, North India, and South China. The male is
slaty-blue with rusty nape and under surface, and is streaked with dusky
throughout; the throat is white, as is the tip of the tail, which, besides
six imperfect bars, shows a broad sub-terminal black band. The dark brown
female has the lower parts white, the rectrices exhibiting eight light
{178}bars. In the very similar _Ae. columbarius_, the "Pigeon Hawk" of
North America, extending to Venezuela and Ecuador, the tail-bars in the
respective sexes are four and six. This species and the following usually
build in trees, using twigs, roots, grass, and moss for their nests. _Ae._
(_Chicquera_) _typus_, the Indian "Turumti," is a larger bird, both male
and female being grey above and white below, with red head and dark barring
nearly throughout, while Ethiopian _Ae._ (_C._) _ruficollis_ is slightly
less striped.
The most typical member of the Family is _Falco peregrinus_, the almost
cosmopolitan Peregrine Falcon, of which the sub-species _F. melanogenys_
and _F. ernesti_, the commonest forms from the Sunda Islands to China and
Fiji, are more closely barred below, though not so broadly as _F. cassini_
of the extreme south of America. The colour is slaty-grey above with darker
transverse markings, the head and a stripe down each side of the neck being
blackish, and the under parts ruddy-white banded with black. Young birds
are browner, and are streaked instead of barred. Barely separable is the
smaller and darker _F. minor_ of South Africa, the Comoro Islands, and
Madagascar, with its larger race _F. punicus_, found from Morocco along
both sides of the Mediterranean to Asia Minor. _F. barbarus_, also of the
Mediterranean region, but chiefly confined to Africa north of the Niger,
and the Soudan, is distinguished by its red nape, brightest in the larger
sub-species, _F. babylonicus_, which occurs from Babylonia to North India.
The Peregrine Falcon, often erroneously called Goshawk in Scotland–a fact
accounting for many British records of the latter–is for its size the most
powerful of the Family; and, being one of the "noble" or long-winged forms,
is much used in Falconry, wherein the male is termed "Tiercel" and the
female "Falcon," as in many other species; while Hunting Hawk, "Blue Hawk,"
and, for the young, "Red Hawk," are names common to both sexes.
Far the most daring of our Birds of prey, the fierceness and courage are
especially shewn in defence of its nestlings, both parents dashing angrily
at an intruder, and, though rarely touching him, swooping down in
unpleasant proximity, as he clambers along some narrow ledge or swings upon
his rope. Should, however, the hen-bird, which sits very closely, have
fresh eggs, she disappears on leaving them, though her consort flies wildly
to and fro at some little distance, reiterating his shrill cry.
Exceptionally {179}savage adults may even strike the person; nevertheless,
Skuas and certain Owls are decidedly more dangerous, whereas the ordinary
Eagle is mild in comparison. The food consists of ducks, guillemots,
pigeons, grouse, and partridges, varied by rabbits and so forth; yet, in
spite of the undoubted damage caused to game, preservers would be wise to
spare a due proportion of individuals in view of their utility in killing
off the more weakly and diseased birds. The two to four eggs, usually
finely blotched or thickly mottled with rich red on a creamy ground–though
one is often paler or yellowish–are deposited in a hollow scraped on some
bare or grassy ledge of a sea-girt or inland cliff; but occasionally nests
in trees are utilized, or broken ground in northern regions. Two or more
sites are often tenanted in turn. Long distances are traversed in search of
food, the survivor of a pair mating again marvellously quickly, considering
the comparatively scanty supply of partners.
_F. peregrinator_ (_atriceps_), the Shaheen or Royal Falcon, of India,
Ceylon, and Tenasserim, distinguishable by the deep ferruginous under
surface and the general absence of barring, is much prized by natives for
hawking, as is the docile but delicate and less courageous Lanner (_F.
feldeggi_ or _tanypterus_) by the Bedouins. The latter is buffish-brown,
with ruddy crown and nape, a grey tinge towards the rufous-barred tail, and
fawn-coloured lower parts with brown spots; it ranges from Loango and
Unyamuesi in Africa as far as South Europe and Persia, and lays four
eggs–lighter than those of the Peregrine–in rocks, ruins, or disused birds'
nests, the Dashoor Pyramid being a well-known site. _F. biarmicus_, a close
ally from South Africa, is nearly spotless below.
Of the genus _Gennaea_ or "Desert Falcon," _G. sacer_ (_lanarius_ or
_milvipes_), the Saker, found from North Africa and East Europe to North
China, has brown upper parts mottled with fulvous, whitish crown, nape, and
lower surface streaked with brown, and white markings across the tail. A
swift and fairly bold denizen of open country, it is used for bustard-,
gazelle- or heron-hawking by Indians and Arabs, while it also preys on
hares, birds, and lizards. It deposits three or four rather pointed white
eggs, blotched or spotted with various shades of red, in a nest of sticks
and grass, normally placed in a tree. _G. jugger_, the Luggur of India and
Afghanistan, differs in being greyer above and less streaked below, with
rufous crown and nearly uniform tail, whereas _G. mexicana_ (_polyagrus_),
the Prairie {180}Falcon of Mexico and the western United States, has the
head brown. _G. hypoleuca_, of Australia, is grey and black, with barred
tail, and dusky shaft-streaks on the whitish lower parts; _G. subnigra_ of
the same country being almost plain blackish-brown.
Much controversy has arisen concerning the noble Arctic Falcons
(_Hierofalco_), especially those occupying Siberia and Northern America; it
seems, however, most probable that three grey forms inhabit the latter and
two the former region. In _H. candicans_, the Greenland Falcon, the
prevailing colour is white at all ages, transversely marked above and
spotted below with blackish; it occurs in North Greenland, Spitsbergen,
Arctic Siberia and America, the Commander Islands, and Amur-land. _H.
gyrfalco_, the Gyr- or Jer-Falcon[141] of Arctic America, Greenland,
Scandinavia, Northern Russia, and possibly North Asia, is like a large
Peregrine Falcon, but is greyer above and whiter below; _H. islandus_, the
Iceland Falcon, of South Greenland, Iceland, North Siberia, and Arctic
America is paler, having the whitish head streaked with dusky. _H.
labradorus_, of Labrador, is dark throughout. All these species move
southwards towards winter, the first three visiting Britain and the
Greenland Falcon even Southern France. They are still valued in Falconry;
but, though more powerful, they lack the spirit and dash of the Peregrine
Falcon. The food consists of lemmings, grouse, sea-fowl, and the like; the
nest of sticks, lined with softer materials, is placed on rocks or trees,
and contains three or four whitish eggs mottled or completely covered with
yellowish or cinnamon markings.
Fam. V. PANDIONIDAE.–This group is especially remarkable for the reversible
outer toe–recalling that of the Owls, the want of an aftershaft, and the
long closely-feathered tibiae. The strong short beak is arched and
decidedly hooked; the powerful feet are roughly scaled; the toes nearly
equal, with no connecting membranes, but with spicules beneath; the claws
sharp, curved, and rounded; the wings long; the tail comparatively short.
The other structural details are as in the Falconidae. The downy young are
dusky, varied with rufous; the lower breast, the abdomen, a central stripe
down the back, and several on the head, being white.
_Pandion haliaëtus_, the Osprey or Fish-Hawk, nearly cosmopolitan {181}in
range, though local everywhere, and absent from many of the Pacific
Islands, New Zealand, Iceland, Greenland, and America south of Brazil, is
dark brown above, with the short crest, head, nape, and lower parts white;
the crown being streaked with blackish, and a brown band–which becomes in
the male a series of spots–crossing the chest. The bill is dusky, the cere
and feet are bluish, and the irides yellow. The smaller Australasian _P.
leucocephalus_ and the American _P. carolinensis_ barely attain
sub-specific rank. A migrant to Britain, this bird formerly bred at
Ulleswater, and not uncommonly in Scotland, where two or three pairs still
remain. Of old it often occupied rocky islets or ruins in Highland lochs,
but the nest is usually placed in other countries on trees or sea-cliffs,
and exceptionally on the ground; trees being the favourite site in America,
in which country colonies are sometimes formed, consisting of even three
hundred pairs. The bulky flattish pile of sticks and turf, lined with moss,
grass, or seaweed, is invariably placed near water, and contains three, or
rarely four, whitish eggs, beautifully blotched or overspread with dark
brown, crimson, or claret-colour, varied with orange, buff or grey, New
World specimens being usually duller. Surface-swimming fish form the food,
and magnificent indeed is the spectacle when an Osprey, after poising
itself vertically aloft, descends with terrific dash and splashing plunge
to rise again with its captured prey grasped in its roughened toes. The
graceful flight is varied by many evolutions and spiral ascents, while the
loud piercing scream is chiefly heard at the nesting-quarters.
Of fossil Falconine forms, excluding existing species, _Lithornis
vulturinus_ is found in the London Clay (Lower Eocene); from the Upper
Eocene of France comes _Palaeocercus cuvieri_ and _Falco_–the former
possibly from England also; from the Lower Miocene of France _Teracus
littoralis_, _Palaeohierax gervaisi_, _Aquila_, _Buteo_, and _Milvus_; from
its Middle Miocene _Haliaëtus_ and _Aquila_. _Aquila_ also occurs in the
American Pliocene of Nebraska and Oregon; _Falco_ in the Italian; from the
drifts of Queensland we have _Necrastur alacer_ and _Taphaëtus
branchialis_; from the Argentine Pampean of Lujan and the Post-Pampean of
Monte Hermoso respectively _Asthenopterus minutus_ and _Foetopterus
ambiguus_; while the superficial deposits and swamps of New Zealand furnish
a sub-fossil _Circus_ and the giant _Harpagornis moorii_; and the Mare aux
Songes of Mauritius _Astur alphonsi_.
{182}CHAPTER V
NEORNITHES CARINATAE _CONTINUED_
BRIGADE II–LEGION I (ALECTOROMORPHAE). ORDERS: TINAMIFORMES–GALLIFORMES–
GRUIFORMES–CHARADRIIFORMES
ORDER VIII. TINAMIFORMES.
The primitive Neotropical Order Tinamiformes, with the Sub-Order TINAMI,
and sole Family TINAMIDAE or CRYPTURIDAE, is classed here in accordance
with Dr. Gadow's carefully-weighed decision;[142] yet the position must not
be considered absolutely certain, most systematists placing it near the
Ratitae. The complete fusion of vomer and palatine bones is unique among
Birds, though partially noticeable in _Dromaeus_ and _Apteryx_; the
conformation of the skull, the single head of the quadrate, the separation
of the ischium and ilium, the absence of a pygostyle, the reduced tongue,
the functionless tail, the gait and bearing are Struthionine features; but
other points of structure, the pterylosis and the habits generally, are
Galline.
The furcula is U-shaped; the sternum long and slender with well-developed
keel; the head small; the neck thin and elongated with short plumage; the
beak fairly strong, varying in length, and composed of more than one piece,
the culmen being flattened and usually arched; the moderate metatarsus is
transversely or hexagonally scutellated, and may be rough or smooth behind,
while the hallux–wanting in _Calopezus_ and _Tinamotis_–is elevated, and
the anterior toes are long or short, with moderate claws. The short wings
are concave and rounded, with ten primaries and from thirteen to sixteen
secondaries; the {183}abbreviated tail possesses ten very weak feathers,
hidden by the coverts in _Tinamus_, _Nothocercus_, and _Crypturus_, and
hardly distinguishable from them in _Rhynchotus_, _Nothoprocta_, and
_Nothura_, the coverts themselves almost forming a train in the male of
_Taoniscus_. _Calodromas_ has twelve rectrices. The tongue is small and
triangular, the crop is large and globular, the after-shaft is rudimentary
or wanting; powder-down feathers occur near the rump, and the down of the
adults is sparing, while that of the nestlings, which run from the shell,
is simple, as in Ratite birds, and of a buffish-brown or chestnut colour,
often relieved by black markings and white streaks.
Like Partridges in appearance, and varying from the size of a large Fowl to
that of a Quail, Tinamous are essentially ground-birds, and rarely perch,
some species being solitary and others forming coveys; they haunt the
undergrowth of thick forests, dry bushy and grassy flats,
or–exceptionally–rocky mountains. The flight is strong and extremely swift,
accompanied by quick vibrations of the wings, occasionally varied by a
gliding motion; so reckless moreover is the pace that individuals are
frequently killed by striking against the first obstacle they meet on
rising. To flush them, however, is often a vain attempt, as they run with
amazing rapidity, and are readily concealed by the surrounding vegetation.
The voice–a trill or mellow whistle of several notes–differs somewhat
according to the species, and may be heard even in winter; the food
consists of seeds, berries, roots, bulbs, spiders, insects and their
larvae, maize- and potato-crops being at times seriously damaged. A hole is
scraped under shelter of a tussock or bush, and scantily lined with dry
leaves or herbage, to receive the eggs, deposited in some districts almost
throughout the year; these are oval, and so wonderfully burnished as to be
totally unlike those of any other bird. They vary, according to the
species, from reddish-chocolate, wine-purple, or liver-colour to dark blue,
bluish-green or primrose, and number from four or five to sixteen; though
the smaller figures are perhaps the most reliable, as larger sets, though
not uncommon, may be the produce of more than one hen. As in the
Turnicidae, and to some extent in the Ratitae, the male alone incubates,
sitting about three weeks, and feigning disablement to decoy intruders from
the nest. The flesh is very delicate, and good sport may be had with some
species near the holes where they daily dust themselves.
{184}As will be seen from the following examples, the general coloration is
rufous or slaty-brown, which may be relieved by buff, or barred with
blackish above and even below; the under parts being often greyer, with
whitish throat and belly. The sexes do not differ greatly, but the female
is, if anything, the larger bird. Some six forms occur in Mexico, while of
the remainder _Tinamotis ingoufi_ extends the range to Southern Patagonia.
[Illustration: FIG. 42.–Great Tinamou. _Rhynchotus rufescens._ × ⅕]
The genus _Tinamus_ has ten members, _T. tao_, of South America north of
Bolivia and Brazil, being greyish-olive, with slaty breast and buff
abdomen, wavy blackish markings on both surfaces, black primaries, black
head and neck with white spots and bands on the sides, and still whiter
throat. Of the thirty or more species of _Crypturus_, _C. tataupa_,
extending from Peru and Bolivia to Brazil and Argentina, is plain
chestnut-brown, with blackish crown, grey cheeks, neck, and breast, whitish
throat and belly, buffish flanks with black crescentic bars, red beak, and
pinkish feet. It haunts dense undergrowth in forests, even near
habitations, and frequently sits bent forward with its "tail" expanded over
its back; its melody consists of several notes at diminishing intervals,
merging into a hurried trill, which is terminated by a reiterated sound
like chororó; its eggs are of a reddish chocolate-colour. _Rhynchotus
rufescens_ of the same countries except Peru, the "Perdiz grande" of
Argentina, which is represented in Bolivia by the similar _R.
maculicollis_, is grey-brown, with blacker crown, rufous cheeks, neck, and
breast, and chestnut primaries; the back being barred with whitish and
black, and the flanks with brown and white. This somewhat solitary bird
threads {185}the tall grasses of the Pampas like a Rail, and, if unable to
escape by squatting or running, will fly for some thousand yards, and
thrice repeat the effort before becoming exhausted, the rapid whirring of
the pinions sounding like a vehicle driven quickly over stones. The song,
as it may almost be called, consists of five or six flute-like notes,
several individuals sometimes joining in chorus towards evening, when they
are decidedly active. The eggs, which are dark purple, have been hatched in
confinement, and attempts at naturalization have been made in Essex and
Herts. _Nothoprocta_ contains eight members, _N. pentlandi_ of the Bolivian
and Argentine Andes having the crown and back grey, barred with black and
buff, and streaked with white, the remiges blackish and buff, the cheeks
and breast grey, the throat, mid-abdomen and pectoral spots whitish, the
flanks grey, black and white. Its powers of flying and running are
comparatively small, and it will remain stationary for hours among stones
or bushes in ravines, escaping observation by its dull hue. The note is a
full-toned whistle; the food consists of seeds, fruits, and insects; the
eggs are reddish-brown. Of seven species of _Nothura_, _N. maculosa_, the
"Perdiz comun," found from South Brazil to Argentina, is yellowish-brown
above, barred with black and streaked with whitish, the throat being white,
the wings marked with fulvous, and the lower parts rusty with brown
breast-spots and curved flank-bands. It is a fearless, solitary, and
somewhat sluggish denizen of grassy plains, which does not avoid
habitations, and may be knocked down with a whip or stone, feigning death
when captured; the note resembles that of _Crypturus tataupa_ without the
final intonation; the eggs are wine-purple or liver-coloured. _N. darwini_,
the shy "Perdiz chico" of Patagonia, is greyer. _Calodromas_ (_Calopezus_)
_elegans_, the Martineta, ranging from South Uruguay to Patagonia, has a
grey and black head and neck with long recurved crest, elevated in
excitement, two white bands on each side of the head, rufous and black
upper parts, whitish throat and marks on the primaries, and buffish under
surface with crescentic black bars and spots. It frequents dry bushy
table-lands, often in coveys of twenty or thirty, which run squealing in
single file before intruders, and utter, in summer only, a long plaintive
whistle, or chorus of notes like those of _Rhynchotus_, but weaker. The
flight, accompanied by a wailing sound, is broken by intervals of gliding;
the four to sixteen eggs are deep green or yellowish. {186}The remaining
genera are _Nothocercus_ with five, _Taoniscus_ with one, and _Tinamotis_
with two species.
ORDER IX. GALLIFORMES.
The Galliformes, or Gallinaceous Birds, constitute a large and fairly
homogeneous Order, situated between the Tinamiformes and the Gruiformes, if
we assume the former to be classified in accordance with the views of Dr.
Gadow, and not to be placed nearer to the Ratitae; the Gruiformes again
linking themselves to the Laro-Limicoline section of the Charadriiformes,
and so forth. _Opisthocomus_, however, though decidedly Galline, shows
considerable resemblance to the Cuckoo-tribe.[143] The present Order may be
divided into the Sub-Orders MESITAE, with the Family _Mesitidae_; TURNICES,
with the _Turnicidae_ or Button-Quails, and the _Pedionomidae_; GALLI, with
the _Megapodiidae_ or Mound-builders, the _Cracidae_ or Curassows, and the
_Phasianidae_ or Game-birds, Fowls, and the like; and finally OPISTHOCOMI,
with the Family _Opisthocomidae_, containing but one species, the
exceptionally curious Hoatzin. Among the _Galli_, the _Megapodiidae_ and
_Cracidae_ together compose Professor Huxley's group of Peristeropodes or
Pigeon-footed forms, where all the toes are in one plane; the _Phasianidae_
standing alone in his Alectoropodes, or Fowl-footed division, where the
hallux is elevated above its fellows.
Excluding _Mesites_, of which comparatively little is known, all the
members of the Order agree in having a more or less globular crop, and a
somewhat scanty supply of down in the adults, with a more uniform coating
in the young, which becomes thinner in _Opisthocomus_; they may be
distinguished from the Gruiformes, except _Rhinochetus_, by their
impervious nostrils, while the Tinamiformes differ in the compound
structure of their bills, the primitive sternum, and the invariably weak
rectrices.
Sub-Order MESITAE. Fam. I. MESITIDAE.–This consists of a single genus,
_Mesites_, from Madagascar, originally referred by Isidore Geoffroy
Saint-Hilaire to the neighbourhood of the Pigeons, and by subsequent
writers to that of the Passerine, Ardeine, or Ralline birds.[144] W. A.
Forbes[145] classed it next to _Eurypyga_ and {187}_Rhinochetus_; but Dr.
Gadow, as may be seen from above, places it in the Galliformes, considering
it to be a connecting link between that Order, the Tinamiformes, and the
Gruiformes.
In this curious form the bill is long and slender; the legs are rather
weak, with the uniformly scutellated metatarsus shorter than the partially
bare tibia; while the toes, which are without webs, are on the same level.
The keel of the sternum is short, the anterior extremity hardly reaching
beyond the middle of the breast-bone, and the clavicles are quite
rudimentary. The wing is rounded, and has ten primaries and six
secondaries; the tail is strong and well-developed, with fourteen (or
sixteen) rectrices. Mr. E. Bartlett tells us that the quills of the soft
feathers of the back and rump are so delicate that the plumage curls
forward immediately upon the bird's death.[146] The after-shaft is absent,
the pervious nostrils are long and linear, the lores and bluish orbits are
naked. No less than five pairs of powder-down patches have been ascertained
to exist, of which two couples are dorsal, one adjoins the upper pectoral
muscles, and two are ventral. _M. variegatus_ is cinnamon, with black and
tawny markings, the lower parts being white with black spots and reddish
flanks. The female is mostly rufous below. _M. unicolor_ is not distinct.
Hardly anything is known of the habits, but the nest is said to be upon the
ground.
Sub-Order TURNICES.–This consists of the two Families, _Turnicidae_ and
_Pedionomidae_, each with one genus, _Turnix_ or _Hemipodius_, and
_Pedionomus_ respectively; the last-named, moreover, has but one species.
_Ortyxelus meiffreni_ (p. 295), may belong here.
Fam. II. TURNICIDAE.–In this group the bill is short, but commonly less
stout than that of the _Phasianidae_, which it otherwise resembles; the
metatarsus is long, slender, and scutellated, the hallux is absent, the
claws are small, curved, and sharp. The wings are broad and rather short,
with ten primaries and about fifteen secondaries; the abbreviated tail
contains twelve soft rectrices, which are not so long as the upper coverts
in _Turnix ocellata_, while in _T. sylvatica_ and several nearly-allied
species the median feathers are somewhat elongated and acute. The furcula
is U-shaped, and the crop is almost absent, but an after-shaft is present;
the pointed tongue, the impervious nostrils, and the tracheo-bronchial
syrinx calling for no special remark. Where the sexes {188}differ, the
female is almost always the larger and brighter-plumaged bird, the colours
being black, brown, buff, chestnut, and white in varying admixture, and
becoming less distinct with age.
These small, solitary, and non-migratory forms often escape observation
through their shyness, as they run strongly, and are flushed with the
greatest difficulty, dropping quickly into cover after a short awkward
flight; they frequent dry, grassy plains and localities covered with low
trees or dense bushes, and utter a pleasant ringing or triple grating cry,
with a mournful call-note at dawn and sunset.[147] The food consists of
seeds and insect-larvae; the well-concealed nest is little more than a hole
lined with dry grass, though sometimes domed with similar materials; the
three to five eggs, shaped somewhat like peg-tops, are buff or greyish,
with spots of pale grey, purplish, or dark brown. Two broods are raised in
a season, and it is a noticeable fact that the comparatively dull-hued male
performs all, or nearly all, the duties of incubation, sitting very
closely, and feigning lameness when surprised with the young, which run
from the shell. The adults frequently fight, but the sex of the combatants
is uncertain.
The genus _Turnix_ includes some twenty "Hemipodes," the Bustard- or
Button-Quails of Anglo-Indians, which range from South Europe, Arabia, and
Africa to India, China, the Liu-Kiu Islands, and Formosa, as well as to
Australia, New Britain, and New Caledonia. The female is described below,
unless otherwise stated. _T. taigoor_, reaching from India, Ceylon, and the
Malay Peninsula to the Liu-Kiu Islands and Formosa, is brown above, with
black bars and vermiculations, and buff margins to many of the feathers;
the forehead and sides of the head and neck are white spotted with black,
the mid-throat and chest are black, a whitish stripe divides the crown, and
the under parts are buff, banded with black on the sides of the chest and
on the breast. The whole chest is barred in the male, the centre of the
throat being white. Darker birds apparently inhabit wetter districts.[148]
_T. pugnax_ of Ceylon and the Great Sunda Islands is a rufous-naped race.
_T. fasciata_, with a rufous collar, but grey and black upper surface,
inhabits the Philippines and Paláwan; _T. rufilata_, of Celebes, has the
throat barred with black, {189}and a rufous vent-region, _T. powelli_ of
the Lesser Sunda Islands being similar. The males lack the rufous collar
and barred throat. _T. sylvatica_, of South Europe and Africa generally,
has in both sexes dull reddish upper parts, barred with black and relieved
by white, grey, and buff, which cause a scaly appearance; the browner wings
shew white spots, the centre of the crown and throat are white, the sides
of the head, neck, and breast whitish with black spots, the mid-chest and
abdomen ruddy and buff respectively. _T. dussumieri_, the smallest species
known, occurring in India, Pegu, Hainan, and Formosa, differs in the wide
yellowish margins of the scapulars, a feature found also in the blacker _T.
nana_ and _T. hottentotta_ of Africa, wherein the sides are barred. The
former ranges from lat. 10° S. to the Great Karroo, and the latter
southward of that district. _T. blanfordi_ is found east of the Bay of
Bengal to Siam and Manchuria, _T. tanki_ in India and eastward to Tipperah,
_T. albiventris_ in the Andamans and Nicobars; all being greyish above
varied with black, and having the nape rufous in the female only. _T.
maculosa_ of Celebes, Southern New Guinea, and Australia, and _T. saturata_
of New Britain and the Duke of York group are similar, but exhibit
yellow-edged scapulars; the latter possessing no rusty collar, but having a
white throat in the male. _T. ocellata_ of Luzon is a large greenish-brown
species vermiculated with black; in which the neck and breast are bright
ruddy, the crown is blackish banded with white, the throat and cheeks are
chiefly black, and the wing-coverts show black ocelli with whitish margins.
The male has the middle of the throat white and no rufous collar. _T.
nigricollis_ of Madagascar is grey, black, reddish, and buff above, with
much black and white on the head; and is uniform grey below, with black
mid-throat and more or less ruddy sides. The throat is white in the male.
The female of _T. melanogaster_ of East Australia has both throat and
breast black, with white markings on the latter, the male reversing the
colours. Other Australian forms are _T. varia_, with chestnut nuchal
collar, black, white, and rufous upper, and grey and buff under parts; _T.
castanonota_, with vinous red upper surface; _T. pyrrhothorax_, chiefly
greyish above and rusty buff below; and _T. velox_, reddish-chestnut in
colour with nearly white lower parts. In these four the sexes are alike.
_T. leucogaster_ inhabits Central Australia.
Fam. III. PEDIONOMIDAE.–_Pedionomus torquatus_ differs in {190}structure
from _Turnix_ by the presence of a small hind-toe. The lax upper plumage
is, in the female, reddish-brown with black barring and buff margins to the
feathers, the lower parts being pale buff marked with black. A broad white
collar spotted with black surrounds the neck, while a rust-coloured nape
and chest distinguish the above sex from the male, where the collar is
brown and buff. This curious bird, somewhat smaller than a Quail, inhabits
grassy plains in Southern and Eastern Australia, preferring the wilder
districts. The habits are much as in _Turnix_, but the nest seems never to
be domed, the four eggs being of a light stone-colour, thickly freckled and
blotched with brown and grey.
[Illustration: FIG. 43.–"Plain-Wanderer." _Pedionomus torquatus._ × ½.]