BUZZARDS. 



291 



America, the squirrel-hawk, or fei-rugineous buzzard (Archibuteo ferrugineus), being 

 confined to the western side of the continent, while the rough-legged buzzard (A. 

 lagopus) reaches from Atlantic to Pacific, and is found in Europe as well. In its nor- 

 mal plumage it is generally ashy-brown, with various lighter and darker markings, 

 and a tendency to form a dark zone across the lower breast and abdomen, while the 

 tail is largely white toward the root. But melanism is of very frequent occurrence, 

 and in this condition the bird is almost entirely black. After much controversy, and 



FIG. 136. Archibuteo lagopus, rough-legged buzzard. 



many years of uncertainty, it is now definitely settled that this black phase is entirely 

 independent of age, sex, or locality, though it is well to note, in this connection, that 

 in Europe, where the light-colored bird is abundant, black individuals are of extremely 

 rare occurrence, only one or two such being on record. 



In America, the rough-legged buzzard seldom nests as far south as the United 

 States, but from the plains of the Saskatchewan northward it breeds abundantly, com- 

 monly placing its bulky nest in trees, but sometimes on cliffs, or even at the edge of 



