The Living Animals of the World, Volume II: Birds, Reptiles and Amphibians, Fishes, Jointed Animals, Molluscs, etc.

Photo by W. Reid] [Withaio, N.L.

AUSTBALIAN BLACK SWANS AND CYGNETS.

The cygnets are light-coloured, like those of the white swans

CHAPTER IX.

BIRDS OF PREY AND OWLS.

BIRDS OF PREY.

T one time the boundaries of this group were much larger than now, for within them were included at least one A form which has since proved to belong to the Crane Tribe: we allude to the Seriema (page 428), and also to the Owls. This classification was based on the very remarkable superficial re&emblance to the typical birds of prey which those forms bear. Modern ornithologists regard as birds of prey only the forms known as the New World Vultures, the Secretary-bird, and the P'alcons, Eagles. Vultures, Buzzards, and the numerous smaller forms commonly classed as " Hawks."

Photo by Scholastic Photo. Co.] [Parson's Green. COXDOK. The habit of standing with the wings expanded is a very common one with these birds.

THE NEW WORLD VULTURES.

These may be distinguished from their distant relatives of the Old World by the fact that the nostrils are not divided from one another by a partition, feet. Theand by their much weaker head and neck in all, as in the true vultures, is more or less bare, and, furthermore, is often very brilliantly coloured, in which last particular these birds differ from the typical vultures.

One of the most important members of the group is the CONDOR, one of the largest of flying birds, and when on the wing the most majestic. " When the condors," says Darwin, "are wheeling in a flock round and round any spot, their when rising flight is beautiful. Except off the ground, I do not recollect ever having seen one of these birds flap its Photo by W. P. Dando, F.Z 5.] CONDOR. [lieyenft Par/c. wings. Near Lima I watched several for The bare skin of the head and neck is of a dark purple colour, the ruff encircling nearly half an hour, without once taking the neck being of pure white down-feathers. 464

Birds of Prey and Owls 465 off my eyes; they moved in large curves, sweeping in circles, descending and ascending, without giving a single flap." One which he shot measured, from tip to tip of the fully expanded wings, 8J feet. The condor, like its smaller relatives, hunts by sight, and not, as was at one time believed, by smell, feeding on the dead bodies of guanacos which have died a natural death or been killed by pumas, and upon other dead animals. In the neighbourhood where sheep and goats are kept, they are much dreaded, as they- will attack the young kids and lambs. The flock-owners on this account wage constant war against them, capturing them by enclosing a carcase within a narrow space, and when the condors are gorged galloping up on horseback and killing them, for when this bird has not space to run it cannot rise from the ground. Sometimes the trees falls a manon which they roost are marked, and when night climbs the tree and captures them with a noose, for they are very heavy sleepers. The condor ranges from the Andes of Ecuador, Peru, and Chili southwards to the Kio Negro on the east coast of Patagonia. It lays two large white eggs on a shelf of bare rock projecting from precipitous cliffs, and the young are said to be unable to fly till after they are a year old. As will be seen in the photographs, the head of the male is Photo by W. P. Dando, F.Z.S., Regent's 1'ark. crowned by a bare, fleshy caruncle, which, like the surrounding KING-VULTURE. bare skin, is of a dull reddish colour: lower down the neck is The fleshy crest on the beak is developed in as well as in the males.a frill of pure white down, which forms a conspicuous contrast the females with the glossy black plumage of the rest of the body and wings.

The KING-VULTURE is a much smaller bird, but the bare parts of the head are much more brilliantly, even gaudily coloured, the combinations being orange, - purple, and * iscrimson. The plumage creamy white and black. It is a comparatively rare bird, and but little is known concerning its breeding habits. The female is much more soberly clad than her mate. The king-vulture has a more northerly range than the condor, extending from Brazil to Mexico, Texas, and Plorida.

The commonest of the New World vultures is the TURKEY-BUZZARD, which is found over the whole of-temperate and tropical America. Of the four species by W. P. Dando, F.Z.S.] [Regent's Park.commonly known as Turkey- Photo BLACK VULTURES. buzzards, three are exclusively South American the fourth When disturbed, these birds eject foul-smelling matter. 59

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British ranges as far north as New York and Columbia, and in the Southern and Middle United States is very common, perambulating the streets or perching on the house-tops. Other species are the small BLACK VULTURE, a dull, uninteresting-looking bird, and the CALI- FORNIAN VULTURE. This latter is a large species, and in the expanse of wing may even exceed the condor. At one time its extermination seemed certain, owing to its falling a victim to the poisoned meat laid out by the stock-keepers for carnivorous mammals, but in the more barren and inaccessible regions it appears to be on the increase.

THE SECRETARY-BIRD.

The second of the three main divisions into which the Birds of Prey are divided is reserved for the SECRETARY-BIRD. This bird derives its name from the crest of long feathers which bear a fanciful resemblance to the quill-pens a clerk is supposed to stick above his ear. It differs from all the other members of the Hawk Tribe in the exceedingly long legs, which in the young are said to be so fragile as to fracture if the bird is suddenly alarmed. It feeds chiefly on insects and reptiles, especially snakes, for which last it seems to have a special liking. It attacks even the most venomous species, striking at them with Photo by Robert D. Carson, Esq.} [Philadelphia. its CALIFORNIA!* VULTURE. its powerful wings and pounding them with till The bare parts of the head are of a brick-red colour. feet, jumping upon them with great force, rendered helpless, when they are at once swallowed head-foremost. On account of its great value as a snake-eater it has been accorded special protection, though unfortunately there is a tendency on the part of English settlers to relax this, on account of the fact that it will occasionally eat animals coming within the scope of " game." Valuable as the latter may be, there yet seems no justification for such a course.

The secretary-bird, which is a South African species, though extending northwards as far as Abyssinia, builds a huge nest of sticks in low bushes, under which will often be found numerous nests of the Cape sparrow, apparently the only available site on the veldt, where bushes are scarce. Here the sparrows are efficiently protected from the icy winds which so frequently sweep across this region, and apparently suffer no fear of personal violence from the fierce owners of the domicile above them. When sitting, the female secretary is fed by her mate. The young do not appear to leave the nest for five or six months. They are frequently taken from the nest and brought up as household pets, becoming not only very tame, but exceedingly useful.

THE EAGLE AND FALCON TRIBE.

From the perplexing wealth of species displayed among the forms herein bracketed all the more importanttogether, we can only select a few examples, which embrace, however, and interesting forms. size Beginning with the more lowly, we start with those members of small or medium known as KITES, and as an example of the group take the species known in the British Islands as the KITE, or GLEAD. In former days this bird was extremely common in England,

Birds of Prey and Owls 467

being found in numbers not only in the rural districts, but in London itself, where, as old records of the fifteenth century show, it occurred in such numbers near London Bridge as to excite the wonder of foreigners visiting the city. These birds found an abundance of food in the garbage of the streets, and also of the Thames itself—“an observation,” remarks Mr. Finn, “which throws a lurid light upon the city sanitation.”

In the days of falconry the kite was royal game, not, however, by legal enactment, but by reason of the fact that none but specially trained falcons could secure a prey with such wonderful powers of flight. Consequently the price of a falcon which had attained this degree of skill was beyond the purse of any but a king.

Save on the wing, the kite is not a handsome bird, its general colour being of a pale reddish brown; but those who have had the good fortune to watch its flight are one and all impressed. Cowper admirably expresses the general admiration in the lines:—

Kites that swim sublime In still repeated circles, screaming loud.

The kites may be distinguished from other members of the tribe by their forked tails. Somewhat of a scavenger, as we have already hinted, the kite feeds also upon such small game as moles, frogs, young birds, rabbits, snakes, and fish. Its partiality for young birds caused it to be much dreaded in the farmyard in the days when it was common; and when, with the introduction of modern and improved firearms, game-preserving became more strenuously prosecuted, its doom was sealed, for a ceaseless war was waged against it, which ended only with its extermination.

Nearly allied to the Kites, the HONEY-BUZZARDS next claim attention. The name Honey-buzzard is a misnomer, for honey forms no part of the bird’s food. This species exhibits, however, a quite remarkable partiality for the immature stages of wasps and bees, the nests of which it tears in pieces with its feet, so as to lay bare the coveted morsels, devouring them on the spot, perfectly regardless of the stings of the infuriated insects, which seem unable to penetrate its feathers. When its favourite food is not to be had, it will feed upon corn, earth-worms, beetles, slugs, small birds’ eggs, and moles—a diet sufficiently

Photo by Scholastic Photo. Co.] [Parson’s Green. SECRETARY-BIRD. In full plumage the tail of this bird is much longer.

of the World468 The Living Animals