Chapter VIII: Introduction (7)

_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}

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}

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.