BIRDS OF PREY 207

intelligence and curious ways and extraordinary
longevity the stories are legion.

Next come the owls, of which there are some
two hundred species distributed all over the globe.

 

THE CONCAVE HORNBILL

Following them are the vultures, eagles, hawks and
kites and falcons, amounting to some five hundred
species, most of them strong and cruel in beak and
claw ; the series from the barn-owl to the osprey
being often grouped as birds of prey.