parents, who procure fish and various other animals for their support, with great industry.

As the Osprey, or Fish-hawk, has been mentioned, it may not be uninteresting to enter into a few of the details regarding this singular bird.

The OSPREY (Pandion Haliaëtus. SAV.) is a native both of the old and new continents, being every where a bird of passage. In spring it visits the shores of the larger rivers and lakes of Russia, Germany, and the middle provinces of Europe, being by no means unfrequent in England, where, however, it is seldom permitted to remain in quiet. On the approach of winter they travel southwards. Audubon states that they show themselves along the shores of the United States, and the lakes and rivers in spring, as they are proceeding northwards; and also in autumn, when they retire to warmer climates. "At these seasons, they appear in flocks of eight or ten, following the windings of our shores in loose bodies, advancing in easy sailings or flappings, crossing each other in their gyrations. During the period of their stay in the United States, many pairs are seen nestling, rearing their young, and seeking their food within so short a distance of each other, that, while following the margins of our eastern shores, a Fish-hawk, or nest belonging to the species, may be met with at every short interval. The sole food of the Osprey is fish; unlike the rest of its tribe, though possessing formidable powers, it attacks neither birds nor quadrupeds, and even permits other birds (as the fish-crow and purple grakle) to entrench upon the outside of its nest, making it a domicile of their own. This, to be sure, is of no inconvenience, as the Osprey's nest is of immense size; it is built in a large tree, near the water, or at the edge of a wood at no distance from it, and is composed of such a mass of sticks, seaweed, grass, and other materials, as to measure often four feet across." The parent birds exhibit no less attachment to each other than to their young, which they unite in defending with the utmost fury. "The male assists in incubation; during the continuance of which the one bird

supplies the other with food, although each in its turn goes in quest of some for itself. At such times the male bird is now and then observed rising to a great height in the air, over the spot where his mate is seated. This he does by ascending almost in a direct line, by means of continued flappings, meeting the breeze with his white breast, and occasionally uttering a cackling kind of note, by which the bystander is enabled to follow him in his progress. When the Fish-hawk has attained its utmost elevation, which is sometimes such that the eye can no longer perceive him, he utters a loud shriek, and dives smoothly, on half extended wings, towards his nest. But before he reaches it, he is seen to expand his wings and tail, and in this manner he glides towards the female bird in a beautifully curved line. She partially raises herself from her eggs, utters a low cry, resumes her former posture, and her delighted partner flies off to the sea, to seek a favourite fish for her." This beautiful bird obtains its prey by hovering over the water, and plunging down, with almost inconceivable rapidity, upon such fish as approach the surface, seizing them by its immense and powerful talons, the outer of which is capable of being almost retroverted. It is able to raise a fish of four or five pounds from the water, and carry it to its nest. It is a most assiduous and successful fisher, but, as we have seen, is often forcibly dispossessed of its booty by the white-headed eagle, which is superior to it in size and strength; it sometimes, however, happens that numbers join in the common cause against the lawless marauder, and by their united forces compel him to retreat.

The plumage of the Osprey is very compact; the wings are very long, and extend considerably beyond the tip of the tail. The general colour of the upper parts is rich glossy brown; the tail being barred with alternate bands of a light and darker colour. The upper part of the head and neck are white, or yellowish white, a band of brown passing from the beak down the side of the neck. The under parts are white, with dashes of yellowish before the fully mature plumage is assumed. The length is about two feet; expanse of wings about four feet six or eight inches.

Another ferocious member of the tribe of Eagles, and perhaps the most formidable of the whole, is the HARPY EAGLE of South America. (Harpyia Destructor. Cuv.)

Nothing can be conceived more indicative of destructive propensities than the beak and talons of this bird, which, with the tarsi, are formed upon the most robust and powerful model. The wings are rounded, a form adapting

it rather to skim along the ground than to mount into the upper regions. From the back of the head arises a crest, composed of numerous broad feathers, of a dull black, capable of being erected or depressed at will; the middle feathers of this crest are by far the shortest, so that when erected it forms two plumes, not unlike what is seen in the great-eared owl. The rest of the head is covered with thick, soft, downy plumage, of a light slate colour. The back, the wings, and a broad band across the chest, are grayish black; under surface white; tail barred; beak black; tarsi yellow.

Of its manners in a wild state little is known, save that it is very much to be dreaded. Hernandez states that it hesitates not to attack the most ferocious beasts, and even man. According to Mauduyt, it makes sad havoc with the poor sloths in the forests of Guiana, and with fawns, hares, and other quadrupeds, carrying them off into the densest and most secluded retreats, where it lives the lonely tyrant of the gloomy forest. Monkeys are also frequent victims to its rapacity. The Harpy Eagle is extremely rare, a circumstance by no means to be regretted when we consider its tremendous powers, and indomitable ferocity.

The BACHA EAGLE, (Hæmatornis Bacha, VIG.) is another of this rapacious group. It is a native of Africa, frequenting the wilds of the southern regions of that immense continent, where it is reported to prey habitually upon the Cape hyra, (or coney,) which it watches for with patience for several hours together, and darts upon the moment it issues out of its burrow.

The genus Hæmatornis, distinguished by sufficiently decided characters, is confined exclusively to the old world, and contains only three or four acknowledged examples; of these, one is the present species, from Africa; another the H. holospilus, from Manilla; and a third, the H. undulatus, from the Himalayan mountains of India.

There is a singular genus of this tribe which claims a moment's notice, from the circumstance of its betraying

E

evidences of an alliance not only to the vultures but to other tribes, such, for example, as the Corvida, (crows, ravens, &c.) though, in the main, it is strictly raptorial. The essential characters of the genus Polyborus (a genus exclusively limited to America) consist in " a beak somewhat elongated, compressed laterally, of considerable depth, strongly hooked at the tip of the upper mandible, and covered at its base by a cere, thinly sprinkled with bristles, the naked membrane of which is continued over the cheeks, and surrounds the eyes; narrow, elliptical nostrils; wings nearly equal to the tail in length, of a rounded form; rather long, naked, reticulated legs; and claws of moderate length and curvature, but with little acuteness or power of grasping. From this combination of structure, it results that the birds thus characterized, although very destructive in their habits, are incapable of a lofty flight, of taking their prey upon the wing, or of carrying it to a distant nest. They are more frequently seen walking, and walk better than almost any other birds of prey; and have the advantage of a much more varied and extensive bill of fare than falls to the lot of the nobler species of their tribe." Hence their generic term Polyborus (from Пoλus, much, and Bopa, food). Of this genus the BRAZILIAN CARACARA EAGLE (Polyborus vulgaris) is the type. It is a voracious bird, devouring small quadrupeds, reptiles, snails, caterpillars, grasshoppers, ants, and carrion. It has been shot in the act of extracting insects from the hides of oxen, which were gladly submitting to the process. Though generally solitary, yet numbers are said sometimes to unite in hunting down prey which would be too strong for the unassisted exertions of a single one; and that in this way the rhea, or American ostrich, sometimes falls their victim. In Paraguay it abounds in incredible multitudes, and it extends as far as the Straits of Magellan. Its nest, which is large and flat, is built of sticks, on the tops of trees, especially of such as are almost concealed beneath the foliage of creepers or climbing shrubs. The young are two in number. The top of the head is black, and exhibits a slight crest at the back part; the feathers of the throat are slender and silky, and of a straw colour.