strange for a bird of prey. Honey-buzzards appear to be exemplary parents, for they are said to construct a bovver of leafy boughs above the nest to screen the young from the sun, the boughs being replaced as they wither by fresh ones.

The honey-buzzard occurs but rarely in England, and nowhere appears to be a very common bird, though it is said to be more frequently met with in Arabia and Egypt than it appears in unusually large numbers, the late Lordelsewhere. On migration, however, Lilford recording an occasion when he observed many hundreds crossing the Straits of Gibraltar from Spain to Africa. These were apparently on their autumnal migration to warmer winter quarters. The dash, energy, and courage which we are wont to associate with the Hawk Tribe have certainly not been manifest in the members of the order which we have examined so far; but these attributes will be evident enough in the majority of the species with which is the OSPREY.we are now about to deal. One of the most interesting of these fiercer forms it captures withor FISHING-HAWK. As its name implies, it feeds largely upon fish, which great dexterity, seizing them either with its feet from the surface of the water, or by plunging it disappears amid a shower of spray, to emerge a momententirely beneath the surface, when its slippery prey, the sole?later with a fish writhing in its talons. To ensure a firm grip of of its feet are armed with rough tubercles, whilst the foot is furthermore remarkable in that the outer toe can be turned backwards, so as to lie parallel with the hind toe an arrangement rare in birds of the Hawk Tribe, but characteristic of the Owls and some other birds. At times, it would seem, the osprey seizes a fish too large to be raised from the water, when, owing to the firm hold which the claws have taken, the bird is unable to release itself, and is speedily dragged beneath the surface and drowned. Some have suggested that the bird falls a victim, not to inability to free itself, but rather to its obstinacy. it The osprey is now rare in Great Britain, though breeds occasionally in the wilder parts of Scotland. It enjoys an extensive range, however, being found all over the world. In America it appears to be very common. On an island "off the eastern extremity of Long Island, New York." writes Professor Newton, " 300 nests were counted. The old birds were rearing their young close together, living as peaceably as so many rooks, and were equally harmless to other birds." Colonies of this kind are rare among birds of prey. Whilst the fiercer raptorial birds, which hunt and kill their prey, live only upon small or medium-sized animals, a certain section, known as the VULTURES, feed upon the carcases of the largest mammals which they find either in the throes of death or already dead, and even far advanced in decomposition. Gathering to the feast in large crowds, even the largest bodies are soon demolished; and on this account the vultures are to be reckoned amongst the most useful of birds, speedily removing matter which in hot countries would rapidly endanger the health of neighbouring communities. Many years ago a great controversy was waged over Photo by W. P. Dando, F.Z.S., Regents Park. the question of the faculty which guides the vulture EGYPTIAN KITE. in the discovery of its food, since it was a matter of Feeding on garbage of all kinds, kites are useful birds in hot countries. common knowledge that the traveller might sweep the

Photo by W. P. Dando, F.Z.S., Regents Park. EGYPTIAN KITE.

Photo by W, Saville-Kent, F.Z.S.] [Milford-on-Sea,

AUSTRALIAN OSPREY.

This species of osprey is confined to Australia and the Austro-Malay Islands, 469

of the World470 The Living Animals

horizon in vain for a sign of these birds, yet, should a camel from a caravan fall out and die, or men fall in warfare, within an incredibly short space of time a crowd of vultures would be squabbling over the dead. Some held that the vulture was guided by scent, others by sight, and this latter view is now almost universally accepted. The bird's natural habit of soaring at an immense height enables it to survey not only immense tracts of country, but the actions of its neighbours soaring at the same altitude, though perhaps miles away. So soon as one descries food it betrays the fact by its actions, making off in the direction of the prospective feast; it is then followed immediately by its yet more distant neighbour, and this by a third, and so the first serves as a guide to all the other soaring birds for miles around. This flight has been admirably expressed by Long-fellow in "Hiawatha."

We need here mention only one or two of the more important species of vulture, and among these one of the most interesting is the LAMMERGEIR, or BEARDED VULTURE. This species is one of the least vulture-like of the tribe, not only in general appearance, but also in habits, and is to be regarded as near the ancestral stock, whose descendants have become more and more addicted to feeding upon dead bodies. The lammergeir, or bearded vulture, is a bird of large size and majestic flight, differing from all other vultures in that the head and neck are clothed in feathers, whilst the nostrils are covered by long bristles. Beneath the bill hangs a tuft of bristles like those covering the nostrils; hence its name of Bearded Vulture; and this, coupled with a remarkable red rim to the eyes, gives the bird an almost diabolical appearance. It lives partly upon living animals and partly upon carrion, bones apparently being especially relished; these it breaks by dropping them from a height upon the rocks below, probably to get at the marrow. Land-tortoises are treated in a similar manner, and it was possibly this species which caused the death of the poet ^Eschylus, on whose bare head a tortoise is alleged to have been dropped. is stillIt was at one time common in Europe, and by Cltarles Knight] [Aldershot.fairly numerous in West Africa, though rare in the Photo

BEARDED VULTURE.

Vulture on account of the tuft ofEast and South. Many stories are told of its It is called the Bearded strength and.daring, some of which concern the bristles hanging from the chin. carrying off of young children; but these are probably mythical, modern observers generally agreeing that the bird is by nature far from courageous. The more typical vultures differ from the lammergeir in having the head and neck more or less bare, and often conspicuously coloured, or covered with a short velvety down. The CINEREOUS, G-RIFFON, PONDICHERRY, and EGYPTIAN VULTURES may be cited as examples of these.

The CINEREOUS or BLACK VULTURE is a heavy and repulsive-looking bird, feeding entirely on garbage. On the wing, however, this vulture shares with its relatives the admiration of all it; sailing in graceful circles in the blue sky of the tropics,who have been privileged to watch or hurrying from all quarters of the compass to some ghoulish feast, it forms a spectacle, once seen, never to be forgotten. It is found on both sides of the Mediterranean, and extends eastwards to India and China.

Photo by Cltarles Knight) BEARDED VULTURE.

Birds of Prey and Owls 471

This species, like the GRIFFON-VULTURE, has the head and neck down-covered, thus standing in strong contrast with the PONDICHERRY and SACRED VULTURES of India and Africa, which have bare heads and necks ornamented by loose folds or lappets of skin of a pinkish colour. These vultures hunt in pairs, and are very self-assertive, driving away all other birds from their prey. They build enormous nests of sticks in bushes and trees, thus differing from the vultures previously described, which generally nest on ledges of rock on precipitous cliffs. These nests are made of sticks, lined with is laid, which straw and leaves. A single egg is white with red markings. The largest species rivals the condor in size.

The EGYPTIAN VULTURE, sometimes known as PHARAOH'S HEN, is the smallest of the is white; the head, vultures. The plumage throat, and fore part of the neck are naked and of a lemon-yellow colour; whilst the feet is it a are pink and the eyes crimson. Not only carrion-feeder, but it will also follow the plough, Co.] [Parwn's Green.picking up worms and grubs. This species Photo by Scholastic Photo. occurs in Europe, 'breeding in Provence and GRIFFON-VULTUKE. Islands.Savoy, the Madeiras, Cape Verde, the Canaries, This bird has once been taken in the British North and South Africa, and India. On three occasions it has wandered to Great Britain.

We pass now to the EAGLES, a group the exact limits of which it is impossible to define, since the forms so designated merge insensibly into Buzzards, Hawks, Harriers, and so forth. Eagles occur all over the world, save only in New Zealand. An eagle, it is interesting to note, is the bird of Jove, the emblem of St. John and Rome, and at the present day of the American Eepublic. It also plays an emblematic part in Germany, Austria, and Russia. Of the true eagles, perhaps the best known is the GOLDEN EAGLE, or MOUNTAIN- EAGLE a British bird, breeding still, though in diminishing numbers, in Scotland. In Ireland it is fast verging on extinction, trap, gun, and poison having wrought its destruction. In times past it bred in the Lake District of England. Abroad it is found over the greater part of Europe, Northern Asia, Parson's Green.India and China, and Northern Africa, and PJwto by Scholastic Photo. Co. ] [ America as far south as Mexico. It is a KUPPELL'S VULTURE. African species, closely allied to the griffon.very fierce and powerful bird, attacking such An

large animals as antelopes, wolves, and foxes, as well as the more helpless fawns, lambs, hares and rabbits, and ducks, geese, grouse, and so on.

Very different from the free-roving golden eagle and its allies is the South American HARPY-EAGLE. This is a denizen of the forest, of great size and enormous strength, as the powerful bill and feet testify. Whilst other eagles are conspicuous for their powers of flight^ the present species is rarely seen on the wing, being strictly a forest-dweller, with short wings and tail, and of a somewhat owl-like plumage, re'st it is' one the feathers being very soft. At of the most striking of all the eagles. The head is crested, the under parts of the body are white, and the upper dark grey, banded with black. It feeds upon sloths, peccaries, and spider-monkeys. So recently as 1897 another forest-dwelling species was discovered in the Philippines, and this also preys largely upon monkeys. Its nearest ally is apparently the harpy-eagle, and, like this species, it is a bird of large size and very

Photo ly Scholastic Photo. Co.] [Parson's Green

ANGOLAN VULTURE.

A common West African bird, living upon fish and carrion.

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