ROW-HAWK, A. tachiro; the RED-BELLIED HAWK, A. rufiventris; the HOODED HAWK, A. pileatus; the MADAGASCAR HAWK, A. Madagascariensis; the NEW HOLLAND SPARROW-HAWK, A. cirrocephalus; and the AUSTRALIAN GOSHAWK, A. approximane.

The American species are as follows: the AMERICAN BROWN HAWK, or SHARP-SHINNED Hawk, or CHICKEN-HAWк, A. fuscus, twelve to fourteen inches long; very common throughout North America: COOPER'S HAWK, A. Cooperii, eighteen to twenty inches long; dark ashy-brown above, but subject to great varieties of color; found all over the United States: and the MEXICAN BLACKCapped Hawk, A. Mexicanus, fifteen to seventeen inches long; dark brownish-black above, beneath light rufous; common in Mexico.

Genus POLIORNIS: Poliornis.-Under this genus the British Museum Catalogue presents the following species: the TEESA HAWK, P. Teesa; the PALE HAWK, P. liventer; the GRAYCHEEKED HAWK, P. Indicus; and the DARK-CHEEKED Hawk, P. pyrrhogenys.

Genus GERANOSPIZA: Geranospiza, according to the same authority, includes the SLENDER HAWK, G. gracilis.

Genus MICRASTUR: Micrastur, also, according to the preceding authority, includes the PIED SPARROW-HAWK, M. brachypterus; the YELLOW-NECKED HAWк, M. xanthothorax; and the CONCENTRICAL SPARROW-HAWK, M. concentricus.

Genus MICRONISUS: Micronisus, according to the same authority, includes the SooLo FALCON, M. Soloensis; FRANCE'S SPARROW-HAWK, M. Francesii; BROWN'S HAWK, M. badius; the SHORT-TOED SPARROW-HAWK, M. sphenurus; the RED-LEGGED FALCON, M. Gabar; the SINGLE-STREAKED HAWK, M. monogrammicus.

Genus MELIERAX: Melierax.—This includes the CHANTING Нawк, M. musicus, found in Africa; it is ash-colored above and white, rayed with brown, beneath; lives on rabbits, rats, moles, mice, quails, and partridges, and makes its nests on trees. The sexes pair for life; during incubation the male turns musician, and sings by day and night. Each strain occupies about a minute, when he pauses for a time and then begins again. He is so absorbed while singing that he may be approached, though at other times exceedingly shy. Levaillant having killed a male bird, the female searched for him on all sides, uttering piteous cries; in another case, having killed a female, the husband mounted to the tops of the trees and poured out a mingled strain of lamentation and defiance.

Genus CYMINDIS: Cymindis.-This includes two species, the CAYENNE FALCON, C. Cayennensis, and the CROOK-BILLED FALCON, C. uncinatus, both of South America, and both resembling the buzzards.

Genus CIRCAETUS: Circaetus.-This includes several species intermediate between the buzzards and eagles. The JEAN-LE-BLANC EAGLE, C. Gallicus, is common over all Europe; its wings

resemble those of the eagle; the bill, however, is more sharply hooked, and the talons are shorter. It is brown above and white beneath, spotted with pale brown. It feeds on lizards, frogs, and serpents, but also carries off hens, ducks, and young turkeys. Buffon raised one of this species, which was rather amiable in its manners, but would never drink when under observation, though it drank freely when it had cautiously looked about, and became satisfied that it was alone. The reason of this seemed to be that in drinking it plunged its head entirely in the water, and therefore took care not to be surprised, by first assuring itself that no enemy was near.

The CROWNED EAGLE, C. coronatus, is of Brazil, and is said to be the only bird that ventures to feed on skunks. It devours the armadillos, breaking their shells by carrying them high in air and letting them fall upon the earth. In default of fresh meat-flesh or fowl-it dines heartily on carrion.

Other species are the BLACK-BREASTED EAGLE, C. thoracicus; the BANDED FALCON, C. fasciolatus; the BACHA EAGLE, C. Bacha; the SPOTTED BACHA, C. holospilus; and the CHEELA EAGLE, C. Cheela.

Genus MORPHNUS: Morphnus, includes several species, called EAGLE-HAWKS, mostly American. HARRIS's Buzzard, M. unicinctus, is twenty-two to twenty-four inches long; the legs are long, the wings short, the tail long, the feet robust; the shoulders and thighs are red; the tail white at its base and tipped with white; the other upper parts deep umber brown; beneath, light brown. It is slow and heavy in its flight, and sluggish in its habits. It is rare in the Middle States, but common at the South; in Texas and Mexico abundant.

The South American species are the GUIANA GOSHAWK, M. Guianensis; and the RUFOUSHEADED FALCON, M. meridionalis. The M. occipitalis and M. albescens are African species.

Genus NEOPUS: Neopus, includes the MALAY EAGLE, N. Malayensis, of a dull brown color, and feeding on reptiles, birds, and insects. It is common in the Malay peninsula and the vicinity.

Genus SPIZAETUS: Spizaetus.-These birds resemble the eagle-hawks; the S. urubitinga is found in Guiana and Brazil; it is twenty-five inches long, and lives in mountainous districts, and devours small quadrupeds, wounded birds, and fish. It is easily domesticated so far as to come to its cage to be fed, after having made its tour in the forests.

The CRESTED SPIZAETUS or GOSHAWK, S. cristatus or S. ornatus, greatly resembles the harpy eagle, but is of smaller size. Under this genus the British Museum Catalogue includes also the following: the MARTIAL EAGLE, S. bellicosus; the OCCIPITAL EAGLE, S. occipitalis; the TYRANT EAGLE, S. tyrannus; the CRESTED INDIAN EAGLE, S. cirrhatus; the CRESTED BORNEAN EAGLE, S. Borneonensis; and the BLACK and WHITE EAGLE, C. melanoleucus.

Genus HARPYIA: Harpyia.-This includes a single species, the HARPY EAGLE-the Aigle déstructeur of Sonnini; A. coronada of the Spanish of South America-H. thrasaetus. It is of the size, power, and fierceness of the true eagles. It has a crest of numerous broad, black feathers on the back part of the head, which is raised by excitement and depressed in tranquillity. The back and wings are brownish-black, each feather terminating in a narrow streak of lighter shade; the under surface is pure white; its wings are short, its legs and talons robust, its general aspect severe and savage, with something of the gloomy expression of the owl. It inhabits Mexico and the northern portions of South America. It preys on sloths, monkeys, fawns, and other quadrupeds, and especially the young ones. One of the species, which was being carried to England, killed and devoured a king-vulture which was in the same cage. After its arrival a cat was put into its cage, upon which it struck it with his foot and instantly broke its back. It has been known to break a man's skull by a stroke of its powerful bill. M. D'Orbigny tells of one which,

having been pierced entirely through the body by two arrows of the Indians, still fiercely attacked the persons around him, and was finally dispatched with difficulty. This formidable species inhabits the edges of forests, and is particularly fond of seeking its prey along the banks of rivers; it seems not to fear man, but allows his approach with an air of defiance.

Genus EAGLE: Aquila.—This includes the true eagles, of which there are about twenty species, and which may be considered the kings among birds, as are the lions among quadrupeds. Inferior, perhaps, to the true falcons in courage and enterprise, they are still the most powerful and formidable of the feathered tribes. Every thing in their formation and constitution is admirably fitted to maintain this master position which they hold among their class. The bill is strongly hooked, and very acute at the tip; the wings are long, and usually pointed, with the third, fourth, and fifth quills longest; the tail is long, broad, and rounded; the toes are long and powerful; the talons are strong, curved, and acute. They feed not only on such birds and quadrupeds as are the prey of the larger falcons, but upon fawns, lambs, and pigs. They have been known to carry off dogs and foxes, and well-authenticated accounts of their bearing off young children are furnished. In general, they are their own hunters and butchers, but some of the species feed readily on carrion, driving off the vultures and robbing them of their legitimate feast. They generally strike their prey upon the ground, and the stoop is almost instantly fatal to any animal on which they pounce. The mere fall of a body of fifteen or eighteen pounds in

weight, from an elevation of fifteen hundred or two thousand feet, would be powerful; but the eagle shoots down with a great initial velocity, and as she delivers the whole of her momentum with the claw, she not only dashes the animal to the earth, but plunges the claw into its body up to the toe, dislocating the spine or breaking the skull of the feebler quadrupeds, and therefore usually inflicting instant death.

Stern and unsocial in their character, yet confident in their strength and efficient means of defense, the eagles delight to dwell in the solitude of inaccessible rocks, on whose summits they build their rude nest and sit in lone majesty, while with their keen and piercing eye they sweep the plains below, even to the horizon. The combined extent and minuteness of their vision, often including not merely towns, villages, and districts, but countries and even kingdoms in its vast circuit, at the same time carefully piercing the depths of forests, the mazes of swamps, and the intricacies of lawns and meadows, so as to discover every moving object-even the sly and stealthy animals that constitute their prey-form a power of sight to which human experience makes no approach. If we connect with this amazing gift of vision the power of flight which enables these birds to shoot through the heavens so as to pass from one zone to another in a single day and at a single flight, we shall readily comprehend how it is that they have in all ages so impressed the popular imagination as to render them the standing types and emblems of power. In ancient times the lion was the representative of kings, but the eagle, soaring in the sky, was made the companion of the gods, and the constant associate of Jupiter himself. In ignorance of the true qualities of these animals, courage and magnanimity, daring and dignity, were regarded as their attributes, and thus they were deemed fitting representatives of the noblest and most exalted of both gods and men. We now know that both the eagle and the lion are butchers, gluttons, and cowards, but such is our inherent admiration of power, that, inasmuch as they are the most destructive of animals, their names are still associated in our minds with something of respect and admiration. The ass is meek, patient, useful, intelligent, but his name, applied to a man, is the most insulting of epithets; the goose is gentle, inoffensive, and one of the very wisest of the feathered creation, but it furnishes the popular mind and tongue with a term significant of something bordering on idiocy. Who so base as not to spurn these degrading terms? sage as not to be flattered by the title of lion or eagle?

Who so

And after all something may be said in mitigation of even the general charge of destructiveness brought against these prominent members of the carnivorous tribes. The common idea is, "that they are constantly engaged in the work of death and destruction; that the lion in the desert is forever roaring and rending; and that the mountain air can never rest for the wing of the eagle; that her shadow is a constant ensign of dread, and her cry a never-ceasing sound of fear. This is the general notion, but nothing can be wider from the fact, and nothing would be more in opposition to the whole tenor of nature's economy. It is the small powers and the feeble exertions in nature that are never at rest. Those creeping currents of air which we can hardly call breezes, and which tell only upon the leaves of the aspen, are never at rest; but storms are not frequent, and a hurricane, even in what may be called hurricane countries, is an event of comparatively rare occurrence. And it is so among birds. The gentle sparrow is always catching caterpillars, and devours fifty in a day, while the golden eagle does not feed once a day-nay, on the average not oftener than once a week. Even when eagles are on the hunt, they do not occasion much general alarm to those animals upon which they prey. The eagle, when towering in her pride of place, certainly commands in vision, and can command in power of destruction, a very wide horizon; but still her command, even at this time, is one of peace and general safety; and as hawks and buzzards and harriers, which are really far more destructive than eagles, are not very fond of beating the bushes if there is an eagle above them in the sky, it is doubtful whether, upon the whole, the golden eagle may not partake more of the character of a preserver than of that of a destroyer. Even when she has singled out her prey, and is about to stoop at it, the fluttering wings, as she winds herself up to the bent of her power, and the loud note with which she begins her descent, all tend to warn the rest of the animals, so that they lie close; the eagle devours the prey in silence, and she does not stoop again on the same ground during the same day."