The true falcons capture their prey in the air,
while the hawks usually seize it on or near the ground, feeding on
hares, rabbits, squirrels, grouse, pigeons, and poultry. Kites and
buzzards, on the other hand, seize their prey upon the ground, and the
former feed largely on reptiles and offal as well as on birds and
quadrupeds. Others have adopted fish as their chief food, and the osprey
snatches its prey from the water with as much facility as a gull or a
petrel; while the South American caracaras (Polyborus) have adopted the
habits of vultures and live altogether on carrion. In every great group
there is the same divergence of habits. There are ground-pigeons,
rock-pigeons, and wood-pigeons,--seed-eating pigeons and fruit-eating
pigeons; there are carrion-eating, insect-eating, and fruit-eating
crows. Even kingfishers are, some aquatic, some terrestrial in their
habits; some live on fish, some on insects, some on reptiles. Lastly,
among the primary divisions of birds we find a purely terrestrial
group--the Ratitae, including the ostriches, cassowaries, etc.
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