deserted habitations of Crows and so forth, or even lay their eggs on level ground or upon crumbling masonry; while the American "Sparrow-Hawk" (_Tinnunculus sparverius_) commonly appropriates old holes of Woodpeckers. Harriers, _Rostrhamus_, and other forms choose sites in reed-beds, gorse-coverts, fern, rough grass, or corn, and eschew hard materials; Hawks usually construct a flat platform of branches lined with thinner twigs. The eggs are generally bluish-, greenish-, or yellowish-white, with fine blotches, streaks, and spots of red, brown, or claret, chiefly towards the larger end; but in Falcons they are more or less covered with ruddy or orange markings, which often obliterate the ground-colour. Unspotted specimens are not uncommon, and in the case of Harriers we have an instance of a plain bluish coloration, a few rusty stains being exceptionally visible. Alternative sites are frequently tenanted, or former nests repaired. Incubation is often of {150}considerable duration, and the young remain long in the nest–four months, it is said, in the Lämmergeier; the longevity, too, of Eagles is notorious, a span of a hundred years having been actually recorded. Unconscious mimicry is shewn by _Accipiter pileatus_, which assumes the garb of _Harpagus diodon_ near Rio Janeiro. [Illustration: FIG. 39.–Lämmergeier. _Gypaëtus barbatus._ × ⅛-⅑.] Sub-fam. 1. _Gypaëtinae._–This group apparently links the Vulturidae to the Falconidae, but seems nearer to the latter. _Gypaëtus barbatus_, the magnificent Lämmergeier, is greyish-black with white streaks, and has a white crown, cheeks with a black band bifurcating at the eye to meet above, and pale tawny lanceolate plumage on the neck and lower parts. Dense black bristles cover the nostrils and lores, and a black tuft, which gives the name of Bearded Vulture, projects below the mandible. The sclerotic {151}membrane is crimson (p. 147). The young are chiefly brown and buff. From Portugal and Mauritania this species extends through the lofty mountains of South Europe to the Himalayas and North China, though practically exterminated in Switzerland and Carinthia; _G. ossifragus_ (_meridionalis_), with no black stripe below the eye, represents it in North-Eastern and Southern Africa. Avoiding its own kin, the Lämmergeier often breeds near Griffon Vultures; the large nest of sticks, lined with wool and hair, begun very early in the year, being placed in some cavity of a cliff or on a precipitous ledge, and containing one egg–or rarely two–which appear pale orange owing to the confluent markings. The flight is majestic and powerful; the cry weak and querulous, with a croak when irritated. In parts of Spain and India, natives assert that this bird preys only on carcases; but in Macedonia it is said to carry off lambs, kids, and fowls, and no doubt occasionally it kills small mammals and birds, though all statements should be carefully criticised, as it usurps the name of