ROUGH-LEGGED BUZZARD 



381 



the level of the gape, which arc dark brown ; the remainder of the 

 upper- parts is dark brown blotched with white, with the tail white 

 at the base and traversed by two or more dark bars ; a white T-shaped 

 mark occupies the middle of the breast and abdomen, leaving the 

 remainder of the under surface dark brown, with the exception of the 

 flanks, which are white with brown barrings. Some individuals show 

 white scapulars and back with brown bars ; as regards the feathering 

 of the leg, this may be either white or red, but always heavily barred ; 

 the bare skin at the base of the beak and the toes is yellow,- and the 



MOUNTED IN THE ROWLAND WARD STUDIOS 



ROUGH-LEGGED BUZZARD. 



eye a paler shade of the same colour, tending to white. It is generally 

 stated that young birds are browner, with less white on the tail, and 

 the under -parts streaked rather than barred ; but in view of the 

 disappearance of the immature plumage this requires confirmation, 

 and the alleged immature dress of the present species may perhaps 

 prove to be only a colour-phase of the adult. 



If its breeding-area be regarded as its true home, the rough-legged 

 buzzard is an essentially northern bird, ranging from Scandinavia in 

 the west, at least as far as the valley of the Lena, in Siberia, to the 

 east, and in Russia not nesting southward of about latitude 56. In 

 winter these northern birds migrate to southern Europe, north Africa, 

 and south-western Asia ; a different species being met with in India,. 



