BUZZARD . 379 



phase the colour is almost entirely yellowish white, with a few brown 

 feathers interspersed ; the rarity of this type indicating almost certainly 

 that it is not, as has been supposed, the immature dress. In all cases 

 the eyes are hazel and the bare parts of the hind-limbs bright yellow. 



Such are the characters of the European buzzard, which if regarded 

 as a distinct species should be called, on the system of nomenclature 

 here adopted, Butco vulgaris. The typical south European and north 

 African B. desertoruni is usually smaller and more rufous ; while the 

 Indian B. plumipes is generally darker with fuller feathering of the 

 shank of the leg. Since, however, there appear to be indications of 

 gradation between them, it seems preferable to regard all these forms as 

 races of a single variable species. On this view the African bird should 

 be designated Butco desertorum typtcus, the European B. desertoruui 

 vulgaris, and the Indian B. desertorum plumipes. 



In this extended specific sense the buzzard ranges over the greater 

 part of Europe, Asia, and Africa, extending in an east and west 

 direction from Scandinavia to Japan. In Asia the breeding-range 

 includes the Himalaya, but not India, to which the species is only 

 a winter-visitor ; while in Scandinavia it extends about as far north 

 as latitude 60". The north European birds are to a great extent 

 migratory, journeying southwards and eastwards in autumn, and pass- 

 ing the island of Heligoland in great flocks. Whether they enter 

 the area of the typical B. desertorum does not appear, however, to be 

 definitely ascertained. 



Although formerly exceedingly common in the wilder wooded dis- 

 tricts of Great Britain and Ireland, the buzzard can scarcely hold its 

 own as a breeding-bird in face of the incessant persecution to which it 

 has long been subjected — a persecution now rendered more severe 

 than ever by the eagerness of collectors to obtain British skins and 

 eggs. Happily there are still localities in the north of England, such 

 as parts of Yorkshire and the Lake District, as well as in North Wales 

 and Scotland, where buzzards breed regularly ; and there is even a 

 record of a brood having been reared in the New Forest so recently 

 as 1895. Throughout the greater part of the first half of the nine- 

 teenth century buzzards also bred regularly in many parts of Ireland ; 

 but they now occur as casual visitors during the autumn, winter, and 

 spring months, and are of extreme rarity in Connaught and Kerry. 



Although occasionally to be seen soaring high in the air in eagle- 

 fashion, buzzards pass much of their time on or near the ground, where 

 they prey on the small rodents, frogs, slow-worms, lizards, and earth- 

 worms which form their chief food. They take, it is true, a few small 



