The Urubitinga is, without question, the noblest and most courageous member of its family, and, according to the Brazilians, is a very dangerous foe to monkeys, small quadrupeds, birds, lizards, and snakes; it also eagerly devours grasshoppers and snails; in order to obtain these it prefers to make its home in the forests, upon the outskirts of which it loves to linger; it is occasionally, but rarely, seen in the open country. The Prince von Wied tells us that he has often found this bird perched in the branches of some thickly-foliaged tree, surrounded by a host of feathered tormentors, who were doing their best to excite it to frenzy; these amiable endeavours, however, had no visible result; the nobler bird sat still, tranquilly pursuing its meditations, apparently quite unconscious that it was the subject of their gibes and raillery. The flight of the Urubitinga is majestic, and capable of being long sustained; its voice is very shrill, and composed of but two notes. The eyrie is usually constructed upon such inaccessible trees as grow near the banks of a river. We learn from Burmeister that the eggs, two in number, are elongated, and white, spotted with various shades of reddish brown. * * * * * The VULTURE FALCONS (_Polybori_) are a family of birds inhabiting South America. Their bodies are slender, their wings comparatively short, their tails long, broad, and rounded at the extremity; the tarsi are high and thin, the toes weak and of moderate size, the claws pointed and but slightly curved; the beak is long, straight towards its base, hooked at its tip, and straight at the margins. The plumage is harsh, and composed of large feathers; those upon the head are pointed. The cheek-stripes are _always_, the throat and brow _occasionally_ bare; the eye has long lashes.