This fierce animal may be considered among birds as the lion among quadrupeds; and in many respects they exhibit a strong similitude. Equally magnanimous, they contemn petty plunder, and only pursue animals worthy their conquest. The eagle disdains to share the plunder of another bird; and, whatever may be the calls of hunger, he never stoops to carrion, but leaves it for other animals more rapacious and less delicate than himself. Nor does the similitude of these creatures stop here; they both have sparkling eyes, and nearly of the same colour; their claws are of the same form; their breath equally strong, and their cry alike vociferous and terrifying.

The nest of this bird is usually built in the most inaccessible cliff of a rock, and generally shielded from the weather by some jutting crag that hangs over it. The period of incubation is said to be thirty days; and when the young are hatched, both the male and female exert all their industry to provide for their wants.

In the rear of this terrible bird may be considered the ring-tailed eagle, common eagle, bald eagle, roughfooted eagle, erne, and black eagle. But though these, and others that might be enumerated, form different shades in this fierce family, they have all the same rapacity, the same general form, the same habits, and the same manner of bringing up their young.

THIS bird is about the size of a thrush; and has a strong black bill, nearly an inch long, and hooked at the end, which, together with its carnivorous appetites, ranks it among birds of the rapacious class; though the slenderness of its legs, and the formation of its toes, seem to

make it a shade between them and such as subsist chiefly upon grain and insects. The feathers on the upper part of the body are of a redish ash-colour; those on the breast are white, diversified with a few dark-coloured lines. The habits of this bird are perfectly analagous to its conformation, as it lives as well upon flesh as upon insects, and thus it partakes, in some measure, of a double nature.

The nest of the female is composed on the outside of white moss interwoven with long grass, and the interior is comfortably lined with wool. It is also worthy of remark, that instead of driving out their young, like other birds of prey, to shift for themselves, they keep them with care, and even when adult they do not forsake them, but the whole brood live in one family together, till on the returning season of courtship they separate, each to establish a little household of its own.

THE VULTURE.

THE golden vulture, which seems to be the foremost of the tribe, is about four feet and a half long, from the end of the beak to that of the tail: on the head and neck only, are to be seen a few scattered hairs, and the eyes are more prominent than those of the eagle: the plumage on the breast and belly is of a redish colour; the back is black, but the tail and wings are of a yellowish brown.

This cruel, unclean, and indolent bird, though totally unknown in England, is common in many parts of Eu rope; and in Egypt, Arabia, and many other kingdoms of Africa and Asia, vultures are found in great abundance. In Egypt, and particularly in Grand Cairo, there are great flocks of them, which render a most important service to the inhabitants, by devouring all the filth and carrion which might otherwise render the air pestilential.

In Brazil, these birds may be deemed peculiarly serviceable, from the circumstance of their checking the increase of the crocodile tribe. The female crocodile frequently lays her eggs, to the number of one or two hundred, on the side of a river, and covers them carefully with the sand, to conceal them from all other animals. In the mean time a number of vultures watch her motions from the branches of some neighbouring forest, and on her retiring, they encourage each other with loud cries, pour down upon the spot, lay the eggs bare, and devour them

in a few moments.

Vultures make their nests in the most remote and inaccessible rocks, and produce but once a year. Those of Europe, indeed, seldom come down into the plains, except when the rigours of winter have banished from their native retreats all living animals but themselves. Their flesh is lean, stringy, and altogether nauseous.

The varieties of this tribe are the ash-coloured and the brown vulture of Europe; the spotted and the black vulture of Egypt; the bearded vulture; the Brasilian vulture; and the king of the vultures, of South America. These, however, all agree in their nature and habitudes, being equally indolent, filthy, and rapacious.

THE SECRETARY FALCON.

THIS curious bird resembles the common falcon in its head, bill, and claws; but its legs are so long, that, when standing erect, it is not much unlike the crane. The general colour of the plumage is a bluish ash; the tips of the wings, the thighs, and the vent, inclining to black. On the back of the head are several long dark coloured feathers hanging down behind, and capable of being erected at pleasure. This crest induced the Dutch colonists at the Cape to give it the name of the secretary; the Hottentots, however, style it the serpent-eater, from the avidity with which it seizes and devours those noxious reptiles.

THIS bird is nearly as large as the golden eagle, measuring in length three feet and a half, but its expanded wings do not reach above seven feet. Its bill is large, much hooked, and of a bluish colour; the irides, in some, light hazel; in others, yellow: a row of strong bristly feathers hang down from its under bill next to his throat, whence it has been termed the bearded eagle; the top of the head and back part of the neck are dark brown, inclining to black; the feathers on the back are variegated by a lighter brown, with dark edges; the scapulars are pale brown, the edges nearly white; the breast and belly whitish, with irregular spots of brown; the tail feathers are dark brown; the outer edges of the exterior feathers, whitish; the quill feathers and thighs are dusky; the legs and feet, yellow; the claws, which are large, and form a complete semicircle, are of a shining black.

It is found in various parts of Europe and America ; it is said to lay only two eggs during the whole year, and frequently produces only one young bird; it is, however, widely dispersed, and was met with at Botany Island by Captain Cook. It lives chiefly on fish; its usual haunts are by the sea shore; it also frequents the borders of

large lakes or rivers; and is said to see so distinctly in the dark, as to be able to pursue and catch its prey during the night.

THE KITE.

Or all obscene birds, the kite is the best known, and may be easily distinguished from the rest of the tribe by its forked tail, and slow floating motion, seeming almost for ever upon the wing; it appears, indeed, to rest itself upon the air, without making the sinallest effort in flying. As almost every bird of the air is able to elude its pursuit, it subsists only upon accidental carnage; and may be considered as an insidious thief, who, on finding a small bird wounded, or a young chicken straying from its mother, improves the moment of calamity to its own advantage. Sometimes indeed its hunger urges it to acts of desperation. We have seen one fly round and round, for a while, to mark a clutch of chickens, and then suddenly dart upon the unresisting little animal, and carry it off; the parent hen in vain crying out, and the boys hooting and casting stones, to scare it from its plunder.

This bird is common in England, where it continues the whole year. It is found in various parts of Europe, in very northern latitudes, whence it retires towards Egypt before winter, in great numbers; it is said to breed there, and return in April to Europe, where it breeds a second time, contrary to the nature of rapacious birds in general. The female lays two or three eggs, of a whitish colour, spotted with pale yellow, and of a roundish form.