688 



SYSTEMA TIC SYNOPSIS.— RAPTORES — ACCIPITRES. 



iiost iudistinguisbable from that of other hirge Hawks ; eggs usually 2 — I have never found 

 more, sometimes only one, but there are many clutches of 3, and a few of 4 eggs; they are 

 about 2.25 X 1.75, resembling hen's eggs, being nearly colorless and unmarked, like those of 

 the Marsh Hawk; sometimes stained or obsoletely spotted M'ith rusty-brownish, or other dull 

 shades, but seldom marked all over or boldly Ijlotched anywhere. This Buzzard represents 

 the European B. vulgaris (tig. 4G9) in N. Am., being, in fact, little different in plumage, 

 though with only 3 instead of 4 primaries cut. (It is Falco buteo Aud. folio pi. 372, not of 

 his text, which describes the Western Red-tail; B. vulgaris Sw. F. B. A. pi. 27; AuD. 8vo 

 pi. 6, not of the text ; B. montanus Nutt. 1840, not of authors ; B. bairdi Hoy (young) ; 

 B. oxypterus Cass, (young) ; B. insignatus Cass. 111. pi. 31 (melanistic) ; B. gutturalis 

 Maxim. ; B. obsoletus Sharpe, 1874 (not Falco obsoletus Gm.). 



B. latis'simus. (Lat. very broad or wide, superlative degree of latus, wide ; referring to the 

 expanse of the win<,'s.) Broad-winged Buzzard. Adult ^ ^ : Above, dark brown, the 



feathers with blackish shaft-lines, and pale grayish-brown 

 or even lighter edgings, those of hind head and nape cot- 

 tony-white basally ; usually also some feathers with ful- 

 vous edgings, especially on hind neck ; upper tail-coverts 

 barred or spotted with white. Primaries and secondaries 

 blackish on outer webs and at ends, most of the inner 

 webs white in large area, more or less perfectly barred 

 with dusky ; concealed parts of scapulars thus barred on 

 both webs. Exposed portion of tail with three blackish 

 zones, terminal one broadest, alternating narrower pale 

 gray or grayish-white zones, one of these terminal; from 

 below these zones appear whitish, but from above gray- 

 ish. Under parts mixed white and fulvous-brown, or dull 

 chestnut, the latter nearly as pronounced as in lineatus, 

 the pattern being rather that of Accipiter fuscus or A. 

 cooperi; fulvous in excess anteriorly, white prevailing 

 posteriorly aud nearly or quite immaculate on crissum ; 

 nuddle regions with white in oval paired spots or incom- 

 plete bars on each feather, flanks and tibia? pretty regu- 

 larly barred with the two colors; most of the feathers 

 black-shafted, producing a fine pencilling, this black in- 

 creasing to decided streaking on white throat, and forming 

 noticeable maxillary patches. Lining of wings mostly 

 white, l)ut with some reddish aud blackish spotting. Bill 



\|^HH^^^^^^^p^ \^ "3j^ mostly dark ; feet yellow ; claws black. Length of $ 

 \^Bii||||||| Pi^^^ ^g^ . about 14.00; extent 33.00; wing 10.00-11.00; tail 



G. 50-7. 00; tarsus 2.30; middle toe witliout claw 1.20. 

 9 larger; length up to 18.00; wing 11.00-11.50; tail 

 7.00-8.00. Young: Differs as usual in the genus, in 

 lacking special colt)ratiou and pattern of under parts, 

 tail-pattern ditlerent, wing-pattern much the same. Upper parts blackish-brown, highly 

 variegated with fulvous, tawny, or whitish edgings of all the featliers, on head and neck the 

 light and darli colors in streaks about balancing each other. Under parts white, more or 

 less buff-toned, with more or fewer linear or clubbed fuscous markings on breast and sides, 

 changing to arrow-heads on flanks and sides, the amount of this marking wholly indeterminate. 

 Tail crossed with numerous light and dark bars (six or eight of each exposed), on both webs 

 of middle feathers and outer webs of the others; those on inner webs largely white, with con- 



FlG. 469. — Jiuteo vuJynris ot Europe, 

 J nat. size ; not distinguishable in tlie cut 

 from one of the plumages of B. swainsoni. 

 (From Brehm.) 



