Stronger evidence it would not be possible to advance of the potency of damp as a check on the increase of a species and of the comparative powerlessness of the attacks of raptorial creatures.
Raptorial birds certainly do use their eyes as the means of discovering their victims; but the great majority of predaceous mammals trust almost entirely to their power of smell as a means for tracking down their prey.
At the end of this chapter we annex a brief analysis, the result of a number of post-mortem examinations of the crops and stomachs of various raptorial birds, which shows pretty conclusively that while game, etc.
A genus of raptorial birds, including the European kite.
A division of raptorial birds comprising the vultures.
A division of raptorial birds composing the vultures.
Raptorial birds are known to be important predators on snakes.
Perhaps certain mammalian predators are even more important natural enemies than are raptorial birds, but records of predation on racers by mammals are few.
In May, 1907, he went to Asia Minor to take the eggs of sea and raptorial birds, living on or near the Mediterranean coasts.
Thus in 1897 he commenced the egg-hunting season by going to Smyrna in February with the intention of taking the nests of the large raptorial birds which there breed very early in the year.
All those species that are liable at any time to become the victims of raptorial birds are very much beholden to this Swallow, as he is the most vigilant sentinel they possess.
But even when the war is open and declared, as between a raptorialspecies and its victims, the former is manifestly driven by necessity.
Professor Owen, doubtless one of our greatest authorities, inclines towards an affinity with the vultures, and considers the Dodo as an extremely modified form of the raptorial order.
It is hardly necessary for me to indicate the head, body, wings, and legs of the smaller figure, for they are evidently avian, while the character of the beak would indicate that a parrot or raptorial genus was intended.
It would be but a short step from this figure to the ancient sun symbol with which the eagle and other raptorial birds are intimately associated.
The teeth are almost of the highest known raptorial character; the jaws are worked by enormous masses of muscles covering all the side of the skull.
Although Coues' colorful description more closely links the weasel with the symbol of evil than pleases me, his description does emphasize the raptorial character of the weasel.
A large long-legged raptorial bird (Gypogeranus serpentarius), native of South Africa, but now naturalized in the West Indies and some other tropical countries.
Defn: Any raptorialbird of the subfamily Milvinæ, of which many species are known.
Defn: A division of raptorialbirds composing the vultures.
Defn: Any cpecies ofraptorial birds of the family Strigidæ.
Defn: A genus ofraptorial birds, including the European kite.
It is true that I do not remember ever having seen an eagle take a coot, but how few of us ever do see raptorial creatures seize their victims?
The white-eyed buzzard is almost contemptible as a bird of prey; he is a raptorial degenerate, a mere loafer.
I think, therefore, that the green liveries of these birds are not the result of their necessity for protection from raptorial foes.
Now, since the coot is, to use a racing term, so indifferent a starter, raptorial birds must find it a quarry particularly easy to catch.
He is not heavy enough to pin it to the ground with his talons, as a raptorial bird does, so must perforce utilise the fork of a tree or a large thorn.
The second class of raptorial birds, which includes all the falcons, affords the better kind of sport, because the following of the chase entails some hard riding.
His long tail, slightly forked at the tip, suffices to distinguish him at a glance from all other raptorial birds.
Cunningham describes this species as "one of the most splendid of large raptorial birds, owing to the brilliant contrast of the snowy whiteness of the head and under surface, with the deep ashy tints of the wings and back.
In the case of Raptorial birds colour is of very little assistance, since the great majority of them are of the same colour, moreover, individuals vary greatly in colouration at different stages of their existence.
This distinguishes the Kite from all other raptorial birds which have round, square, or wedge-shaped tails.
It is my belief that vultures and otherraptorial birds do not recognise in the screams of their victims the wails of pain.
Almost the only raptorial winter visitor that has not a cousin who lives in the plains throughout the year is the kestrel (Tinnunculus alaudarius), the bird known in England as the Windhover.
No matter how large a raptorial bird be, if its claws are small and feeble, it feeds either upon carrion or tiny creatures.
I once asked a falconer how he would explain such inconsistencies in the behaviour of raptorial birds.
The majority of the non-passerine birds that are altogether or mainly white are large and able to fight well, so that they are comparatively immune from the attacks of raptorial birds.
The smaller fry appear to look upon theraptorial bird in much the same light as children regard the "bogey man.
The older larva (Figure 35), which resembles the mature Squilla especially in the structure of the great raptorial feet and of the preceding pair, still wants the six pairs of feet following the raptorial feet.
In the raptorial birds bright colours are as a rule absent; and their structure and habits are such as not to require any special protection for the female.
Vultures are not the only raptorial birds that do this.
The common pariah kite (Milvus govinda) is the most familiar raptorial bird in India.
Diurnal to crepuscular habits of this mouse may protect it from some of the nocturnal carnivorous mammals and raptorial birds.
Presumably, most of the carnivorous mammals and raptorial birds within the range of the southern pygmy mouse could be listed as enemies.
Presumably most of the crepuscular and early nocturnal raptorial birds and carnivorous mammals feed on these mice.
