The succeeding families of RAPTORIAL BIRDS are distinguished by the circumstance that, although they pursue and kill living prey, they will likewise occasionally eat carrion; in order, however, to make the arrangement of this heterogeneous multitude at all clear to the general reader, we must subdivide them into several different groups. [Illustration: EAGLES.] THE EAGLES. THE EAGLES (_Aquilæ_) are distinguishable by the following characteristics: their body is stoutly and compactly built, their head is of moderate size and entirely covered with feathers, and the beak, which is straight to a considerable distance from its base, terminates in a curve or hook; the upper mandible is without teeth, but is slightly waved at its sides; the cere is bare, the tarsi are of moderate size, strong, and more or less covered with feathers, extending in some cases down to the toes; these latter are very powerful, often of great length, and armed with large, much curved, and sharply pointed talons. The wings of some species reach as far as the end of the tail, in others no farther than its root; in all they are rounded at the tip, the fourth and fifth quills being longer than the rest; the tail is long, broad, and either rounded or straight at its extremity. The plumage consists of large and usually pointed feathers, rich in texture, often very soft, but occasionally coarse and harsh. One of the distinguishing features in the plumage of the Eagle is that the feathers on the back of the head and nape are either pointed or considerably prolonged. The eye is large and fiery, and the eyebrows very distinctly marked, thus giving an expression of fierceness to the face.