174 FALCONING. 



differ considerably in colour from their parents, it not being 

 until the third or fourth year that the adult plumage is com- 

 plete. When the old birds have transverse bands, the young 

 generally have longitudinal spots ; in many species, the spots 

 and streaks of the young disappear with age ; the tints usually 

 become purer and lighter the older the individual ; and on the 

 other hand many which are patched or spotted with white when 

 young, gradually assume a darker tint. In consequence of 

 these variations, great errors have been committed in naming 

 and distinguishing the species. The moult commences in the 

 end of summer, and is completed by the beginning of winter ; 

 but in some species, the Eagles in particular, new feathers are 

 found at all seasons. 



The males are always much smaller than the females. 

 When the sexes differ in colour, the young resemble the female, 

 which is generally darker and more variegated than the male. 



Of the nineteen species that occur in Britain, some, as the 

 Kestrel, Sparrow Hawk, and Hen-harrier, are generally dis- 

 tributed, while others, as the Eagles, are confined to the nor- 

 thern and more mountainous tracts, and several, as the 

 Honey Buzzard and Red-legged Falcon, are rare or irregular 

 visitants. 



SYNOPSIS OF THE BRITISH GENERA AND SPECIES. 

 GENUS I. BUTEO. BUZZARD. 



Bill short, compressed toward the end, with the upper out- 

 line sloping a little to the edge of the cere, then decurved, the 

 sides rapidly sloping, the edges with a distinct rounded festoon ; 

 nostrils elliptical, oblique ; head large, broad, flattened ; feet 

 short, robust ; tarsus roundish, feathered in front halfway down, 

 anteriorly and posteriorly scutellate, or feathered in its whole 

 length ; wings long, broad, rounded, the fourth quill longest, 

 the outer four with the inner web abruptly narrowed. 



\. Buteofuscus. Brown Buzzard. Tarsus bare ; upper parts 

 chocolate-brown, lower variegated with white ; tail barred 

 with dusky and greyish-brown. 



