The opinions of Luther and Calvin on the subject of faith and predestination have been since considerably modified by many Protestant divines, who have admitted that the will of man must co-operate in order to obtain the grace necessary for justification. The Roman Catholic church admits the merit of good works and repentance, united with faith, for the purpose of salvation. But then, it requires an absolute faith in all the decisions of its General Councils in matters of dogma, without the least liberty of investigation on the part of the laity, and without any doubt, for doubt itself is held to be sinful. The Reformed and Protestant churches, generally speaking, hold faith in the fundamental dogmas of Christianity as an essential requisite for salvation. FAKENHAM. [NORFOLK.] FAKI'R, an Arabic word meaning poor, which is applied to the ascetics of several parts of the eastern world. In this sense it is synonymous with the Persian and Turkish derwish. The word fakir is chiefly used in India. There are fakirs who live in communities like the monks of the western world, and others who live singly as hermits, or wander about exhibiting strange displays of self-penance and mortification. Many of them are considered as hypoerites, and others are fanatics or idiots. [DERWISH.] FALAISE, a town in France, the capital of an arrondissement, in the department of Calvados, near the source of the river Anté, which flows into the Dives: it is 127 miles from Paris, through Versailles, Dreux, Verneuil, and Argentan; in 48° 53' N. lat. and in 0° 14′ W. long. The antient castle of Falaise was one of the residences and strong-holds of the dukes of Normandie, and here William the Conqueror was born: it sustained fourteen sieges at different times, in the early troubles of the duchy of Normandie; in the wars of Henry I. of England with his brother Duke Robert and the Norman lords; in the invasion of France by Henry V. (A.D. 1417); in the expulsion of the English from France (A.D. 1450); and in the war of the League, in which Falaise was taken by Henri IV. in person (A.D. 1589). The fortifications, which were much injured in these attacks, are at present in a very dilapidated state: the donjon of the castle, situated on a bold and lofty rock, in the suburb of Guibray, is one of the proudest relics of Norman antiquity: its walls are in some parts eight or nine feet thick. The town stretches along the top of a rocky ridge which rises abruptly from a fertile and wen-wooded valley. The streets are wide, and the public fountains impart a freshness to the appearance of the place. Before the Revolution, there were twelve churches: there are now only four; two in the town, and two in the suburbs. The population in 1832 was 9419 for the town, or 9581 for the whole commune. The inhabitants carry on a considerable manufacture of cotton yarn and hosiery. There is a large fair held in the suburb of Guibray, which is much frequented: it continues from the 15th to the 30th of August: many Norman horses are sold. This town has a tribunal de commerce, or court for commercial affairs, a high school, an agricultural society, and a theatre. The arrondissement of Falaise contained, in 1832, a population of 62,349. The chief manufactures carried on in it are leather and paper: there are also many oil-mills. FALAJAS. [ABYSSINIA, p. 58.] FALCO. [FALCONIDE.] FALCON. [FALCONIDE.] FALCONER, WILLIAM, was born about the year 1730, being one of a large family, all of whom, except himself, were deaf and dumb. When very young, he served his apprenticeship on board a merchantman, and was afterwards second mate of a vessel in the Levant trade, which was shipwrecked on the coast of Attica, himself with two others being the only survivors. This event laid the foundation of Falconer's fame, by forming the groundwork of 'The Shipwreck,' which poem he published in 1762. The notice which the poem received enabled him to enter the navy, during the ensuing year, as midshipman in the Royal George. After some other appointments, he became purser to the Aurora frigate, and was lost in her somewhere in the Mozambique Channel, during the outward voyage to India, in the winter of 1769. Toner was the author of a 'Nautical Dictionary' of conmerit, as well as of some minor poems; but his m to reputation consists in 'The Shipwreck,' the which is owing to the vividness and power of de scription which pervade the work, and to the facility the author has shown in introducing nautical language. HIS style is formed on a model which may now be thought erroneous, and is certainly the most artificial imaginablethat of Pope; and the mixture of phrases, such as weather back-stays,' 'parrels, lifts, and clew-lines,' with the affectstions of nymph,' 'swain,' Paphian graces,' &c., form rather a ludicrous contrast. To call 'The Shipwreck' a first-rate poem, or to compare it with the neid of Virgil, would not now enter into many men's thoughts, although this was done at the time when it first appeared. Some might even assert that where there is no imagination, there is no poetry; but with all these limitations we must allow that Falconer has done what no one else ever attempted, and we must give him a high place among the writers of didactic poems. (See Clarke's and Pickering's editions of The Shipwreck; Irving's Life of Falconer; Chalmers's Biog. Dict.) FALCONET, ETIENNE, was born at Paris in 1716, of poor parents, of a family originally from Savoy. He studied sculpture under Lemoyne, whom he soon surpassed. He executed several groups and statues, which are at Paris, in the church of St. Roch, in the Musée des Monumens Francais, and in several private collections. In 1766 he accepted the invitation of Catherine II. to repair to Petersburg, in order to execute the colossal statue of Peter the Great. He remained in that capital twelve years, during which he completed his work, which is now in the square called the Square of the Senate, and is perhaps the finest specimen of an equestrian statue existing. As he and the Russian founder appointed to cast the statue could not agree, Falconet cast it himself. He placed it upon an enormous block of granite, weighing about 1700 tons, which was found in some marshy ground at a considerable distance from Petersburg, and was brought to the capital by machinery. Catherine, who had shown him the greatest attention during the first years of his residence in the Russian capital, grew cool towards him at last, owing to the misrepresentations of some of her courtiers. Falconet returned to Paris in 1778. In May, 1783, as he was going to set off for Italy, a country which he had never visited, he had a paralytic stroke. He survived thus misfortune several years, and died in January, 1791. In temper he was eccentric and blunt, but generous and warm-hearted. While at Petersburg he kept up a correspondence with Diderot, which is printed in Diderot's works. He wrote strictures and commentaries on the books of Pliny which treat of the sculpture and painting of the antients: he also wrote 'Observations sur la statue de Marc Aurèle,' in which he does not share in the admiration expressed by many for that work. In general, Falconet had no great veneration for antient art. All his writings were published under the title, Euvres Complètes de Falconet, 3 vols., 8vo., Paris, 1808, to which is prefixed an account of his life. FALCONIDE, Leach's name for a family of Raptorial Birds, or birds of prey. (Raptores of Illiger.) In this family the destructive power is considered by all zoologists to be most perfectly developed; and we find in the birds composing it natural instruments for striking, trussing, and dissecting their prey, combined with a power of flight and strength of limbs equivalent to the necessities of the case, whether the prey be aërial, that is, whether it be the habit of the raptorial bird in question to strike down its quarry while the latter is in the act of flight, or whether the,r be terrestrial, or, in other words, captured on the ground. Of these natural weapons some idea may be formed from the cuts here given, Foot of the Peregrine Falcon. and they are rendered still more formidable by the organization of the whole animal, which is calculated to give them the greatest possible effect. The nails or claws, to be available, must be sharp; and in order that they may be kept in this state and fit for duty, there is a provision to enable the bird to prevent them from coming in contact with the ground or other foreign hard bodies: for the claws are retractile, not indeed in the same manner as those of the cats [FELIS], which have the power of withdrawing or sheathing theirs within the integuments, but by a conformation which gives the bird of prey the power of elevating its claws at pleasure. The claws of falcons when sitting on stones or large branches of trees have often a cramped appearance; but this arises in most instances from the care of the bird so to arrange its talons that their points may not be blunted against the perch. ANATOMY. The power of flight, as Mr. Yarrell observes in his memoir On the Anatomy of Birds of Prey (Zool. Journ. vol. iii. p. 181), is one of the decided marks of the distinct organization of birds; and, as one division of the first genus, Falco, appears to possess this power in the highest degree of perfection, he proceeds to consider the conditions necessary to produce such a degree. These, he observes, are large and powerful pectoral muscles; great extent of surface, as well as peculiarity of form in the wing; and feathers of firm texture, strong in the shaft, with the filaments of the plume arranged and connected to resist pressure from below. A certain degree of specific gravity,' continues Mr. Yarrell, is necessarily imparted by large pectoral muscles, and the power of these muscles may be estimated by the breadth of the sternum and the depth of its keel, as affording extent of surface for the attachment of the large muscle by which the wing is depressed. As an illustration of this form the breast-bone of the peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) is represented, which ex Breast-bone of the Peregrine Falcon (Yarrell) reduced. a, the sternum; b. the keel; c, the furcula, or os furcatorius; dd, the clavicles; e, the scapula broken off. each feather narrow, firm in consistence, the second the longest, and all gradually tapering to a point, is also best adapted for rapidity of motion, may be inferred from the example in the various species of the genera Hirundo, Scolopax, Tringa, Charadrius, Procellaria, Sterna, &c.; but that extent of surface and this peculiarity of form in the wing are not in themselves sufficient alone to afford rapid flight, is proved in the genus Larus, the species of which, though capable of exercising their immense pinions with graceful ease for hours in succession, without any apparent lassitude, are still incapable of rapid flight, for want of strong pectoral muscles. The numerous examples also furnished by the Gallinaceous tribe sufficiently evince that immense pectoral muscles are insufficient when coupled with a small round wing, and afford but a short flight, sustained with great labour, rapid in a small proportion only to the strength and repetition of the impulse, and accompanied by a vibration too well known to need further remark. So material also is the perfection of the feather in the genus Falco, that when any of those of the wing or tail are broken, the flight of the bird is so injured that falconers find it necessary to repair them. For this purpose they are always provided with pinion and tail feathers accurately numbered, and the mode of uniting the more perfect feather to the injured stump is described in Sir John Sebright's excellent observations on hawking.' The reader who is disposed to go farther back will find in the ' Booke of Falconrie or Hawking,' &c., &c., heretofore published by George Turbervile, Gentleman,' (London, small 4to., 1611,) the following chapters:-'Of Accidents that happen and light uppon a hawkes feathers, and first how to use the matter when a feather cannot be ymped. The way and manner how to ympe a hawks feather, howsoever it be broken or bruised; and four methods of operating, according to the circumstances, are detailed. How to ympe the traine of a hawke beeing all broken, and never a feather whole or sound.' Mr. Yarrell proceeds to observe that it is difficult to estimate the comparative rapidity of flight in different birds, and that our pigeons may appear to possess this advantage in a degree little inferior to the true falcons; but, he adds, the fact is that these birds are deficient in natural courage, and are unable, under circumstances, to avail themselves of those powers with which they are gifted. 6 The bodies of all the species of true falcons,' writes Mr. Yarrell in continuation, when denuded of their feathers, are triangular in form, broad at the shoulders and tapering gradually to the tail, the muscles of the thighs and legs of great size; but these characters are less prominent in the hawks, the bodies of which are more lengthened, the legs long and slender, the pectoral muscles smaller, the wing rounded in form, the fourth feather the longest, the wing primaries broad in the middle, the inner webs overlapping the feather next in succession, and emarginated towards the end. These two divisions of the genus Falco, although the latter are unequal to the former in powers, are remarkable for their bold character and rapid flight, their invariable mode of striking their prey on the wing, as well as the instinctive knowledge by which they are directed to destroy life, attacking the most vital part, and penetrating the brain with their sharp hooked beak, either by one of the orbits where the bone is very thin, or at the junction of the cervical vertebræ with the occiput. 'On comparing the bones of our two British eagles, the greater power of flight appears to belong to the Albicilla, that of prehension to the golden eagle, but both exhibit various indications of great strength. 'By an extended examination of the different species of buzzards and harriers, it will be found that the characters described as necessary to produce rapid motion decline gradually. The sternum decreases in size, the keel loses part of its depth, the clavicles and furcula become more slight, while the form of the cranium, the loose ruffled feathers of the neck, as well as the general downy texture of the plumage, indicate the approach to the genus next in succession. Of the bones of the different species of the genus Falco generally, it may be added, that they are remarkable hibits the breadth of the sternum, the depth of the keel, for their strength, such as are cylindrical being furnished as well as the strength of the clavicles; and the power with numerous transverse bony processes within the tubes, of flight peculiar to all the species of true falcons is and the distribution of air throughout their internal cavities. still further illustrated by the form and substance of the The humerus is supplied with air through several orifices os furcatorius, which is circular, broad, and strong, afford-upon its inner and upper surface, and some difference will ing a permanent support to the shoulders. That the long be found in the angle at which this bone is articulated with and acuminated form of the wing in the true falcons, with the clavicle to accomplish the ascending flight of the sky lark, in contradistinction to the precipitous horizontal direc- | tinal canal is very long, equal in size, and without cæcal tion of the falcons. The thigh bone is also supplied with appendage; the seal, too, has long intestines with a small air by an orifice at the situation which answers to the front cæcum. Mr. Yarrell inquires therefore if it may not be of the great trochanter; the large bones forming the pelvis, concluded that the small quantity of nutriment which fish, the vertebræ, sternum, furcula, clavicles, scapulæ, and even as an article of food, is known to afford, renders this extent the ribs, are all furnished with apertures for the admission of canal necessary in order that every portion may be exof air, supplied from the various cells of the abdomen, tracted. The cæca of the Falconidae amount to no more sides, and thorax. This distribution of air to the bones than minute rudiments. does not seem however to be absolutely necessary for flight, since the young birds of our summer visitors appear to perform their first autumnal migration with perfect ease and celerity, at an age when the cavities of their bones are filled with marrow. 'The various characters of the feet are too obvious to require particular notice.' The reader is referred to the article BIRDS for the details of the rest of the skeleton of the Falconida, as exemplified in the Sparrow Hawk (vol. iv., pp. 424, 425); and we shall now endeavour to give a sketch of the other internal parts worthy of notice, and especially of the organs of the senses. Organs of Digestion. In the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons in London (Physiological Series), the reader will find a preparation (Gallery, 522 A.) of the stomach of the golden eagle. It is laid open, so as to show the orifices of the numerous gastric glands of the proventriculus, the smooth lining membrane of the gizzard, and the valvular structure of the pylorus. The œsophagus is very wide, so that externally it appears to form one continued cavity with the proventriculus and stomach. On the outer surface of the latter may be observed the two shining tendons from which the muscular fibres radiate; these however form a very thin layer in this and other carnivorous birds. A small quill is passed through the pylorus, which is guarded within by three cuticular tubercles, two on the upper side of the orifice and one below which fits into the interspace of the preceding. The crop has not been preserved in this preparation. (Cat., Physiol. Series, vol. i.) John Hunter, in his Observations on Digestion' (Animal Economy), says, There are few animals that do not eat flesh in some form or other, while there are many who do not eat vegetables at all; and therefore the difficulty to make the herbivorous eat meat is not so great as to make the carnivorous eat vegetables. Where there is an instinctive principle in an animal, directing it either to the one species of food or the other, the animal will certainly die rather than break through of its own accord that natural law; but it may be made to violate every natural principle by artificial means. That the hawk tribe can be made to feed upon bread I have known these thirty years; for to a tame kite I first gave fat, which it ate very readily; then tallow and butter; and afterwards small balls of bread rolled in fat or butter; and by decreasing the fat gradually, it at last ate bread alone, and seemed to thrive as well as when fed with meat. This, however, produced a difference in the consistence of the excrements; for when it ate meat, they were thin, and it had the power of throwing them to some distance; but when it ate bread, they became firmer in texture, and dropped like the excrement of a common fowl. Spallanzani attempted in vain to make an eagle eat bread by itself; but by inclosing the bread in meat, so as to deceive the eagle, the bread was swallowed and digested in the stomach.' Mr. Yarrell observes, that the esophagus offers nothing peculiar beyond that of other birds not possessing the power of minutely dividing their food. It is plicated lengthways, allowing great extension, and its separation from the stomach is marked by a zone of gastric rings. The same author notices an opportunity which occurred to him of observing the castings or pellets of some eagles, which had been occasionally fed with dead pigeons. These castings showed that the vegetable food, such as pease, wheat, and barley, which had been swallowed by the eagles in the crops of the pigeons, remained entire, but somewhat enlarged and softened by heat and moisture. In these cases no part of the bones remained. The intestines of the Falconida are in general short and large, but Mr. Yarrell remarks that the Osprey is an exception to this rule, and that to the thin membranous stomach of this bird there is attached an intestinal canal measuring 10 feet 8 inches in length, and in some parts scarcely exceeding a crow-quill in size. The canal in most of the species, he adds, is in length, compared with that of the bird itself, as three to one; but in the Osprey it is as ;ht to one; and he observes that in the otter the intes Organs of Respiration.-There is nothing very remarkable in these organs among the Falconida. The trachea is composed of two membranes, inclosing between them numerous bony rings, forming a more or less perfect tube. The rings are strong and compressed. The point of divarıcation, the cross-bone and bronchiæ constituting together the inferior larynx, are of the most common form, having but one pair of muscles attached; and the voice, though powerful, possesses, as might be expected, but little variation. (Yarrell.) Falco musicus seems, however, to be an exception, and it would be desirable to examine its trachea for the purpose of ascertaining whether it is not organized more after the fashion of that of the singing birds. Organs of Sense.-Touch.-It might be expected that in the Falconida the soles of the feet and lower surfaces of the toes which come so closely into contact with the living prey would be endowed somewhat more largely with the sense of touch than those of birds which have no such habits; accordingly, we find in the Museum of the College of Surgeons (Physiological Series) a preparation (No. 1400) of one of the feet of an eagle, with the cuticle removed, showing the papillæ and cushions of the cutis on the under surface of the foot. Taste. In the same Museum (same series, No. 1482) will be found the tongue, larynx, and lower jaw of the Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos). The tongue is fleshy and large, divided into two lateral portions by a deep longitudinal furrow; at its base is a series of small retrovertel spines, arranged in the form of a chevron, between which and the larynx the surface is studded with the orifices of numerous glandular follicles: two rows of retroverted spines again occur behind the larynx. There is a row of glandular follicles on either side of the frænum linguæ, and a large cluster of similar orifices immediately anterior to it. The preparations No. 1483 and 1484 exhibit respectively the tongue and fauces of an Erne (Haliæetus albicilla), and the tongue and larynx of an Osprey (Pandion haliæetus). Smell.-A longitudinal section of the anterior part of the head of the Golden Eagle will be found in the same Museum and series (No. 1538). The preparation shows the turbinated cartilages and cavity of the nose, together with part of the orbit and the air-cell continued from it anteriorly, and situated below the nose. The parts are minutely injected, and the vascularity of the pituitary membrane covering the middle turbinated cartilage is well displayed. No. 1539 is a transverse section of the head of an Erne (Haliaeetus albicilla), showing the convolutions of the middle turbinated cartilages, and the disposition of the pituitary membrane, which is thickest on the convex or me sial side of the convolutions. The air-cells in the superior maxillary bones, and their communications with those which are situated in front of the eye-ball, are well seen in this preparation. Bristles have been inserted into the lachrymal ducts, and into the common termination of the Eustachian tubes, the respective conduits of the eye and ear for conducting their superfluous moisture to the nasal passages. An anterior transverse section of the head of the same eagle is shown in No. 1540, which exhibits the external nostrils, the anterior terminations of the middle turbinated cartilages, and of the lachrymal ducts, in which bristles are placed; together with the communications of the maxillary air-cells with the cancellous structure of the upper mandible. (Cat. Gallery, vol. iii.) Hearing.-Nothing remarkable. Sight. The extraordinary powers of vision,' says Mr. Yarrell, which birds are known to exercise beyond any other class of animals are in no genus more conspicuous than in that of Falco. Their destination, elevating themselves as they occasionally do into the highest regions, and the power required of perceiving objects at very different distances and in various directions, as well as the rapidity of their flight, seem to render such a provision necessary. The eyes of birds are much larger in proportion than those of quadrupeds, and exhibit also two other peculiarities. The one is the marsupium, a delicate membrane arising at the bottom of the eye, and terminating at or near the edge of the crystalline lens: the other is a ring of thin bony plates, enveloped by the sclerotic coat. Comparative anatomists do not seem to be agreed as to the means by which birds obtain their power of vision, whether by an alteration in the form or situation of the crystalline lens, or by both, either or both of which, the greater quantity of aqueous humour which birds are known to possess would seem to facilitate. The existence of muscle attached to the inner surface of the bony hoop of the sclerotica, and inserted by a tendinous ring into the internal surface of the cornea, as shown by Mr. Crampton,* by which the convexity of the cornea may be altered, gives a still greater scope of action, since with two or at the utmost three varieties of powers, the sphere of distinct vision may be indefinitely extended. Whether the five species called the True Falcons possess, with their exclusive rapidity of flight, any power of vision beyond their generic companions, would be difficult to ascertain; but it may, while on this subject, be worthy of remark, that the irides of the Gyrfalcon, Peregrine, Hobby, Merlin, and Kestrel, are hazel-brown, or still darker, while those of all the hawks, buzzards, harriers, and kites, are of various shades of yellow. I refer only to adult birds, and do not remember a single exception.' a 2 1, bony ring of a Golden Eagle; 2, crystalline lens of the same bird; a, the anterior surface, somewhat less convex than the posterior one (Yarreli). Mr. Yarrell observes, that the number of bony plates forming this circle in the Golden Eagle is fifteen; in the White-tailed Eagle there are but fourteen: and he adds, that the external convex form of the bony ring in the Golden Eagle will be found to extend through all the species of every genus of British birds, except the owls, in all of which it is concave. of vision. No. 1796 exhibits the eye-sall, with portions of the horizontal eye-lids, the vertical eye-lid, or membrana nictitans, of an eagle. The quadratus nictitantis may be observed to have a more extensive origin than in the ostrich, and both muscles of the third eye-lid are relatively larger. The cornea is cut away, and the nictitating membrane raised, to show the termination of the duct of the Harderian gland, in which a bristle is placed. Bristles are also placed through the two puncta lachrymalia. The round and slightly concave tarsal cartilage of the lower eye-lid may be observed: the upper lid has no tarsal cartilage. In No. 1797 the three eye lids of an eagle are exhibited, and the tarsal cartilage, which is raised as in the act of closing the eyes, is shown. (Cat. Gallery, Physiol. Series, vol. iii.) NATURAL HISTORY. Aristotle divided the Falconidæ into 'Αετοί οι Αἰετοί (Eagles), 'Iepakɛç (Hawks), and 'Ikrivo (Kites), with many subdivisions. Mr. Vigors is of opinion that the division Iépač (Hierax) of Aristotle comprises all the Falconidae of Vigors which belong to the stirpes or sub-families of Hawks, Falcons, and Buzzards. Pliny separates the group into Aquile (Eagles) and Accipitres, a general term comprising as used by him, the rest of the Falconidae. The subdivi sions of both Aristotle and Pliny do not differ much from the subdivisions of some of the modern zoologists. Belon, beginning with the Vultures, proceeds from them to the Eagles; thence to the Gerfault, which he gives as the Morphnos, Morphna, Nittophonos, Plangos, Plancus, Plangus, and Clangus of the Greeks, and Anataria of the Latins; next he places the Orfraye, which he makes the Haliaeetus of the Greeks, the Aguista piombina of the modern Italians, and gives Aquila marina as the Latin name. He then treats of the Ossifragus as the Phinis of the Greeks, Aquila barbata in Latin, recording it provisionally as a species of Vulture (Petit vautour), and next describes the Buzzard (Buse ou Busard) as a kind of bastard Eagle, and as the Gypäetos, Percnopterus, or Oripelargus of the Greeks. Then comes the Goiran or Boudree, which he describes as living upon rats, mice, frogs, lizards, &c., caterpillars, and sometimes slugs and serpents, asserting that it becomes very fat, and that it is taken frequently in winter for the sake of its flesh, which is good for food. This he supposes to be the Hierax, called Phrynolochos by the Greeks, and gives Rubetarius Accipiter as the Latin name. Jean le Blanc, or Oyseau Saint Martin, which he considers to be the Pygargus of the Greeks, follows, and is succeeded by another Oyseau Saint Martin, or Blanche-queue. Belon then gives an account of the birds of prey employed in falconry. The Sacre and her Sacret, the Autour and her Tiercelet, the Fau-perdrieux (Circus?), and the Falcons generally, with their Tiercelets.* He then describes the Hobreau (Hobby?), the Esmerillon (Merlin?), the Espervier (Sparrowhawk?), the Lanier and Laneret, and the Cresserelle (Kestrel ?). Next follow the Butcher-birds, then come the Kites (Milan Royal, Milan Noir-Milvus), and (the Cuckoo intervening from a supposed similitude to the Birds of Prey) the Owls. Passing by Gesner, Aldrovandus, and Jonston, we pause to notice Willughby's arrangement. He separates the carnivorous and rapacious birds, called Birds of Prey, into the Diurnal (those that prey in the day-time) and the Nocturnal (those that fly and prey by night). The following is his table of the Diurnal section. In the Museum of the College of Surgeons (Physiological Series, Gallery) are the following preparations illustrative of this part of the subject. No. 1741. The head of an eagle, with the eyes in situ. In the left eye the anterior part of the tunics and the humours have been removed to show the retina expanding from the oblique line by which the optic nerve terminates, and the vascular processes of the marsupium extending forwards from the centre of the optic fissure. In the right eye a lateral section of the coats has been removed, together with the humours and a great part of the retina, showing the uniformly dark-coloured choroid, the thin but dense texture of the sclerotica, and the zone of esseous plates which supports the projecting cornea. The marsupium is preserved in situ. It is of an unequal quadrilateral figure, broadest below, and extending upwards and inclined a little backwards, with a slight convexity towards the nasal side of the eye-ball. The large size of the eyes is worthy of notice. No. 1742 exhibits a longitudinal section of the eye of an eagle, showing the oblique manner in which the optic nerve perforates the sclerotica and its extended termination, from which the retina expands in a plicated manner: only the folds at its origin are here preserved. The parts being minutely injected, the vascularity of the choroid is shown; also the breadth of the ciliary zone, the breadth and thickness of the bony imbricated hoop surrounding the base of the cornea, the thickness of the cornea itself, and the large size of the anterior chamber of the eye. No. 1743 is the eye of an eagle, with a portion of the coats removed from one side, showing the folds of the marsupial membrane, from which the colouring matter has been removed. In No. 1538 above alluded to portions of the eye Diurnal and eye-lids with the nictitating membrane are preserved, showing the situation of the two puncta lachrymalia, through which bristles are passed along the ducts to the nose; and in No. 1539, at the back part of the preparation, the left eye-ball is laid open, showing the marsupial membrane. The right eye-ball is entire, and the abductor, attollens, and deprimens oculi, together with the quadratus and pyramidalis muscles of the membrana nictitans, are well displayed. See also No. 1540, as referrible to the organs • Annals of Philosophy for March, 1813. It is a general rule that, in the Falconida, especially among the nobler birds of prey, the female is larger than the male. Ray, in his Synopsis,' follows Willughby, and both Ray and Willughby place the Cuckoo after their Diurnal Birds of Prey and immediately before the Nocturnal. Brisson's third order consists of birds with a short and crooked beak, and the first section contains the genera Epervier (Hawk), Aigle (Eagle), and Vautour (Vulture). Linnæus makes his first order, Accipitres, consist of the genera Vultur, Falco, Strix, and Lanius. The genus Falco contains the elements of the different branches of the family of Falconida. Without entering into the methods of Buffon, Schaeffer, and Scopoli, we proceed to that of Latham, who made the Accipitres his first order of Terrestrial Birds, containing the genera Vulture, Falcon, and Owl. Pennant makes the Rapacious Birds (his first section) consist of two genera only, viz. Falcon and Owl. M. de Lacepède placed the Birds of Prey (his seventh order) at the head of his second Division of Birds. His genera are Vultur, Gypaëtos (Griffon), Aquila, Astur, Nisus, Buteo, Circus, Milvus, Falco, and Strix (Owl). M. Duméril divided his first order, Rapaces, into three families; the first Nudicolles or Ptiloderes, consisting of the genera Sarcoramphus and Vultur; the second Plumicolles or Cruphodères, containing the genera Griffon, Messager, Aigle, Buse, Autour, and Faucon; and the third the Nocturnes or Nycterins (Owls). Blumenbach's first order, Accipitres (Birds of Prey, with strong hooked bills and large curved talons, a membranous stomach, and short cæca) consists of the genera Vultur, Falco, Strix, and Lanius. Meyer's first order, Rapaces, is divided into two suborders: first, the Scleropteræ, or Diurnal Birds of Prey; second, the Malacopteræ, the Nocturnal Birds of Prey. The third order of Illiger, Raptatores, is composed of the Nocturni (Strix), the Accipitrini (Falco, Gypogeranus, Gypaëtus), and the Vulturini (Vultur, Cathartes). Cuvier divides his first order (the Birds of Prey) into Diurnal and Nocturnal. The first are subdivided into the Vultures and the Falcons (Falco, Linn.), which last are separated into the Noble Birds of Prey, or Falcons properly so called (Falco of Bechstein), comprising the genera Faucon (Falco) and the Gerfaults (Gyr-falcons, Hierofalco of Cuvier); and the Ignoble Birds of Prey, consisting of the Eagles (Aquila of Brisson), which are subdivided into the Eagles properly so called (Aquila of Cuvier), the AiglesPêcheurs (Fishing Eagles, with comparatively long wings, Halicetus of Savigny), the Balbusards (Pandion of Savigny), the Circactes (Circaetus, Vieillot, Jean le Blanc, &c.), the Caracaras, (Polyborus, Vieillot, and Ibycter, Vieillot), and the Harpies or Fishing Eagles, with short wings, (Harpyia of Cuvier; the tribe Cymindis of Cuvier; the Aigles Autours (Morphnus of Cuvier, Spizaëtos of Vieillot); the Autours (Astur of Bechstein, Daedalion of Savigny); the Milans (Milvus of Bechstein, Elanus of Savigny); the Bondrées (Pernis of Cuvier, Honey Buzzard); the Buses, Buteo of Bechstein; the Busards (Circus of Bechstein); and the Messager or Secrétaire (Serpentarius of Cuvier, Gypogeranus of Illiger). Vieillot divides his first order, Accipitres, into the Diurnal and Nocturnal tribes, making the first tribe to consist of three families; 1st. Vautourins, among which he places the Caracara; 2nd. Gypaëtes; 3rd. Accipitrins, consisting of the genera Aigle, Pygargue, Balbuzard, Circaete, Busard, Buse, Milan, Elanus, Ictinie, Faucon, Physète, Harpie, Spizaëte, Asturine, Epervier. Temminck's first order, Rapaces, comprises the genera Vautour, Catharte, Gypaëte, Messager, Faucon, Chouette. Mr. Vigors thus arranges the Falconida. De Blainville divides the Raptatores into the Diurnal and the Nocturnal. The former he divides into the Anomalous (the Secretary, Serpentarius); and the Normal (Falco, Linn.). M. Latreille separates his first order of terrestrial birds (Rapaces) into two tribes-the diurnal and the nocturnal. The first contains two families: 1st, The Vautourins (Vultures); 2nd, The Accipitrins. The latter consists of the genera Aigle, Pygargue, Balbuzard, Harpie, Aigle-Autour, Asturine, Messager, Autour, Epervier, Elane, Milan, Bondrée, Buse, Busard, Faucon, Gerfault. C. L. Bonaparte (Prince of Musignano), in his ‘Tabella Analitica,' divides his Ordine' Accipitres into the Famiglia Vulturini,' and the Famiglia Rapaces.' These last he separates into the Diurni, with eyes on the sides of the head, Occhi nei lati,' and the Nocturni, with eyes in the face, Occhi sulla faccia.' His diurnal rapacious birds consist of two genera, viz., Gypaëtos and Falco. The latter comprises the following sub-genera:-Aquila, Halidëtos, Pandion, Falco, Astur, Milvus, Elanus, Buteo, Circus. M. Lesson, in common with other zoologists, separates his first order, the Birds of Prey, Accipitres, or Rapaces, into the diurnal and nocturnal. The first embraces three families:-1st, The Vultures; 2nd, The Falcons, or Falcomida, which he subdivides into the Noble Birds of Prey, viz. the genera Falco, Hiero-Falco, Physeta, and Gamp sonyx; and the Ignoble Birds of Prey, viz. the genera Aquila, Haliaeetus, Pandion, Circaëtus, Caracara, Harpya, Morphnus, Cymindis, Astur, Nisus, Milvus, Ictinia, Elanus, Nauclerus, Pernis, Buteo, Circus. 3rd, The Messagers, or Serpentarii, consisting of one genus only, Serpentarius, the Secretary Falcon. Mr. Swainson (Fauna Boreali-Americana) remarks that in contemplating the diurnal birds of prey, arranged by Linnæus under the genus Falco, we can be at no loss to discover the two typical forms in the Toothed-billed Falcons and the Sparrow-hawks. Their peculiarities, he adds, did not escape the notice even of the earliest systematic writers, and the moderns, he observes, have only confirmed the justness of the distinction. But with regard to the remaining groups, he states that much diversity of opinion stil. exists; not, indeed, as regards the leading divisions, for here likewise the antients had long ago anticipated our distinctions between the Eagles, Kites, and Buzzards. It is not, therefore, to these groups, taken per se, that any doubts can attach on their respective peculiarities, but rather as to their relative rank with those that are considered typical. These doubts, in Mr. Swainson's opinion, can only be solved by analysis; and from an attentive consideration of the dif ficulties arising from the want of materials in our museums, and other causes, he has been induced to dissent from several modern writers upon this family. He admits that it has been sufficiently proved that the various forms of which it is composed exhibit, as a whole, a circular succession of affinities; but the true series of the secondary groups, among themselves, has not, he asserts, yet been made out: he adds however, that the inability to state in what way the falcons or hawks form their own respective circles cannot militate against the belief that such is their true distribution. It remains, therefore,' continues Mr. Swainson, to be considered whether there is presumptive evidence to believe that the three remaining divisions, namely the Buzzards, Kites, and Eagles, form one circular group, independent of their affinity to the two former. The true Buzzards, of which the Vulgaris and the Lagopus may probably be types, are slender long-winged birds; the bill is small, short, and considerably curved: in this strueture they agree with the true falcons, yet they are well known to be distinguished from them by wanting the toothed-bill, and by the shortness and graduated abbreviation of the exterior quill-feathers. Now, if Nature had proceeded in a simple course from the buzzards to the falcons, we should have had birds uniting the distinctions of both variously modified. Both these groups being composed, in their typical examples, of slender long-winged birds, with short bills, any species exhibiting the reverse of such characters, and intervening between the two forms, would certainly appear anomalous, on the supposition of a simple series of affinities being aimed at. Yet, that such birds are to be found, even among the few that we are subsequently to notice, is unquestionable. Let us then take the Buteo borealis, which, as being more allied to the falcons than to the kites, may be considered an intervening |