THE TRUE BUZZARDS. I47 



and not true Eagles. As a rule, the members of the Sub- 

 family ButeoiiincE are somewhat sluggish and heavy birds, 

 not possessing the dash of an Eagle or a Hawk, but resemb- 

 ling the former in general appearance and build. The range 

 of the Buzzards is almost cosmopolitan, though the Australian 

 members of the genus are not typical Buzzards, and are more 

 like large Gos-Hawks in appearance. 



THE TRUE BUZZARDS. GENUS BUTEO. 



Buteo, Cuvier, Legons Anat. Comp. i. Tabl. Oiseaux (1800). 



Type, B. huteo (L.). 



The typical Buzzards have rather a long wing and a head 

 like that of an Eagle, with a bony shelf above the eye, a long 

 tail, more than twice the length of the tarsus, which is never 

 entirely feathered. The nasal aperture is a long oval, and 

 there is no tubercle, as in the Falcons and some other Birds 

 of Prey. The Buzzards are found throughout the northern 

 parts of both Hemispheres, and in North America many of 

 the species are migratory, and visit South America in winter. 

 In Africa several species of True Buzzards are resident, and 

 they are found throughout the greater part of Asia, but do 

 not extend below Southern China and the Burmese Provinces, 

 being absent in the Malay Peninsula and Archipelago. 



I. THE COMMON BUZZARD. BUTEO BUTEO. 



Faico hifeo, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 127 (1766). 

 Bitteo vulgaris, Newt. ed. Yarr. Brit. B. i. p. 109 (187 1) • 

 Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. i. p. 186 (1874); Dresser, b' 

 Eur. v. p. 449, pi. 331 (1875); Seebohm, Br. B. i. p. 117 

 (1883) ; B. O. U. List Br. B. p. 94 (1883) ; Saunders, Man. 

 Br. B. p. 311 (1889); Lilford, Col. Fig. Br. B. part xvii. 

 (1891). 

 Buteo fusciis, Macg. Br. B. iii. p. 183 (1840). 

 {Plate XLIV.) 

 Adult Male. — General colour above ashy-brown, rather paler 

 on the scapulars and wing-coverts, which have more or less 

 distinct white margins ; on the nape some white streaks, the 

 forehead and sides of face being also narrowly streaked with 



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