Page:Ornithological biography, or an account of the habits of the birds of the United States of America, vol 2.djvu/388

352 water, in search of food, and now and then will seize on a frog or a very young alligator with their claws, and drag it to the shore. Like the Vultures, they frequently spread their wings towards the sun, or in the breeze, and their mode of Avalking also resembles that of the Turkey Buzzard.

PoLYBOHUs VULGARIS, Vieillot, Galerie des Ois, pi. vii.

Fai-co brasiliensis, Gmel. Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 2C2 — Lath. Ind. Ornith. vol. i. p. 21.

Cabacara, Rati Synops. p. 17 Cabacara ordinaire, Cuv. Regne Animal, vol. i. p. 328.

Brazilian Kite, Lath. Synops. vol. i. p. C3.

Adult Male. Plate CLXI. Two figures.

Bill rather long, very deep, much compressed, cerate for one-half of its length ; upper mandible with the dorsal outline nearly straight, but de- clinate for half its length, curved in the remaining part, the ridge nar- row, the sides flat and sloping, the sharp edges slightly undulated, the tip declinate, trigonal ; lower mandible with the sides nearly erect, the back rounded, the tip narrow, and obliquely rounded. Nostrils oblong, oblique, in the fore and upper parts of the cere. Head of moderate size, flattened ; neck rather short, body rather slender. Feet rather long and slender; tarsus rounded, covered all round with hexagonal scales, the anterior much larger, and the five lower broad and transverse ; toes of moderate size, scutellate above, the inner scaly at the base ; the outer is connected with the middle-toe, at the base by a web, as is the inner, al- though its web is smaller; lateral toes equal, middle one considerably! longer, hind-toe shortest, and not proportionally stronger; claws long, arched, roundish, tapering to a point.

Plumage compact, slightly glossed. Upper eye-lid with short strong] bristles ; space before the eye, cheeks, throat, and cere of both mandibles,J bare, having merely a few scattered bristly feathers. Feathers of the! head, neck, and breast narrow ; of the back broad and rounded ; outerJ tibial feathers elongated, but shorter than in most Hawks. Wings long,i reaching to within two inches of the tip of the tail ; primaries tapering,! secondaries broad and rounded, with an acumen ; the fourth quill longest, third scarcely shorter, first and seventh about equal ; almost all thei primaries are more or less sinuate on their inner webs, and the second,] third, fourth, fifth, and sixth on their outer. Tail long, rounded, of twelve! broadish, rounded feathers. There is a large bare space on the breast^ as in the Turkey Buzzard.