690 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — RAPTORES — ACCIPITRES. 



1890, p. 90. Mexican border, Florida, and southward through Central and most of South 

 America ; not known to occur in the West Indies. Breeds regularly in Florida, nesting in 

 trees in March and April; eggs 1-3, 2.15 X I.H5, greenish white, moderately spotted witli rich 

 brown. 



AKCHIBU'TEO. (Lat. archi-, from Gr. apxos, archos, a leader, chief; buteo, a buzzard.) 

 Hare-footed Buzzards. Characters of Buteo proper, but tarsi featliered in front to toes, 

 naked and reticulate along a strip behind. Wings very long; 3d and 4th quills longest; 1st 

 shorter than 7tli ; 4 or 5 emarginate on inner webs. A small group, well marked by character 

 of feet. Tlie species are among the largest of the Buzzard-hawks, but are rather dull heavy 

 birds, preying upon humble quarry, especially small quadrupeds, reptiles, and insects. 



Anali/sis of Species. 



Below, white, variously dark-marked, and often with a broad black abdominal zone, but generally no ferruginous ; 

 in melanotic state, whole plumage nearly uniform blackish. (Aechibuteo proper.) . . lugopus sancti-johiinnis 



Below, pure white, scarcely or not marked, excepting that the legs are rich rufous with black bars, in marked con- 

 trast ; above, varied with dark brown, chestnut, and white ; quills brown, vdth much white : tail silvery-ash and 

 white, clouded with brown or rulbus. {Subgenus Brewsteria.) Jerrugineus 



(Subgenus Archibuteo : Rough-legs.) 



A. lago'pus sancti-johan'nis. (Gr. AaywTrovs, lagopoiis, hare-footed ; Lat. sancti-johannis, 

 of St. John, Newfoundland. Figs. 470, 471, 472.) American Rough-legged Buzzard. 

 " Black Hawk." Adult ^ 9 • '-Too variable in plumage to be concisely described. In gen- 

 eral, whole plumage with dark brown or blackish and light 

 brown, gray, or whitish, the lighter colors edging or barring 

 the individual feathers ; tendency to excess of whitish on 

 head, and to formation of a dark abdominal zone or area 

 M'liich may or may not include tibipe ; usually a blackish 

 anteorbital and maxillary area. Lining of wings exten- 

 sively blackish. Tail usually white from base for some 

 distance, then with dark and light barring. Inner webs 

 of flight-feathers extensively white from base, usually with 

 little if any of the dark barring so prevalent among bu- 

 teonine Hawks. From such a light and variegated plu- 

 mage as this, the bird varies to more or less nearly uniform 

 blackish, in which case the tail is usually barred several 

 times with white. Our lighter-colored birds are not fairly 

 separable from normal European lagopus ; but our birds 

 Fig. 470. — American Rough-legged average darker, and their frequent melanism does not ap- 

 Buzzard. (L. A. Fuertes.) pgj^j. ^^ often befall the European stock. But in any plu- 



mage the Eough-leg is known at a glance from nuy Buteo by feathered shanks; while the 

 peculiar coloration of ferrugineus is highly distinctive of the latter. Length of 9 ? 22.00 ; ex- 

 tent 54.00; wing 17.50; tail 9.00; iris light brown; bill mostly blackish-blue; cere pale 

 greenish-yellow; feet dull yellow; claws blue-black. ^ averages smaller; length 20.00- 

 22.00; wing 16.00-17.00. The name adopted, it must be observed, is not intended to discrimi- 

 nate tlie black from the ordinary plumage, but to separate the American bird subspecifically 

 from tlie European. (The latter has been supposed to occur in its typical form in Alaska, 

 and is carried in both editions of the A. O. U. List, 1886 and 1895, as No. [347.] ; but I can- 

 not admit it to the Key upon any such evidence as that which has been adduced.) N. Am., 

 at large, common, especially in fertile, well-watered regions, as those of the Atlantic seaboard ; 

 a large, heavy, and somewhat sluggish Hav/k, haunting meadows and marshes, to some ex- 



