38o FALCON AND EAGLE GROUP 



birds, but these can in most cases well be spared ; and in place of 

 being ruthlessly shot down by gamekeepers, the buzzard ought to be 

 zealously protected on account of its manifest benefit to the farmer. 

 The open parts of woodland districts are the favourite haunts of the 

 present species, which breeds generally in trees (although occasionally 

 among rocks), constructing a large flat nest of twigs, which when com- 

 pleted is lined with fresh green leaves, renewed from time to time as 

 they fade and shrivel. Usually three in a clutch, although occasionally 

 either two or four, the eggs of the buzzard are almost as variable in 

 colour and markings as are the birds by which they are laid ; with a 

 whitish or pale blue ground-colour, the eggs may be almost wholly un- 

 spotted, flecked with pale reddish markings of varying shape, or heavily 

 clouded and blotched with russet and reddish brown. It would be very 

 interesting to know whether the almost uniformly coloured eggs are 

 laid by the pale-coloured birds. 



Of the typical African Biiteo desertoruni an undoubted specimen 

 was killed in Wiltshire in 1864, while two other examples are reported 

 to have been taken in Yorkshire. Single specimens of each of two 

 North American species of buzzard, namely, B. borealis and B. lineaius, 

 are also reported to have been taken in this country, but the records 

 are open to great doubt. The occurrence of the first-named is credited to 

 Nottinghamshire, 1 860, and that of the second to Inverness-shire, in i 863. 



Roue-h-leffffed ^Vhether the comparatively unimportant fact that 



Buzzard ^^ ^^'^'^ species of rough -legged buzzards differ 



(Archibuteo from the typical buzzards by having the whole 



lag-opus) front of the legs covered with feathers is sufficient 



to justify the reference of the former to a genus by 



themselves may be doubtful. Since, however, this arrangement is 



generally adopted, and possesses a certain amount of convenience, it 



may be followed on the present occasion. 



The European rough-legged buzzard is a larger bird than its partly 

 bare-legged cousin, the length of the female reaching to as much as 

 26 inches. As to weight, there appears to be a dearth of information, 

 although it is known that the female of the true buzzard will weigh 

 as much as 2^ lbs., and the male about \ lb. less. 



In colour the rough -legged buzzard exhibits nearly as much 

 variation as its cousin ; some individuals being much lighter than 

 others, in addition to displaying differences in marking. In what 

 may be regarded as the typical phase the head is white, more or less 

 streaked with yellowish brown, except the feathers of the cheeks below 



