232 Mr. J. II. Guriicy's Notes o» 



very interesting specimen of this Buzzard in a state of ehange 

 from the immature to the adult plumage, and also a specimen 

 which they consider to be fully adult, as well as a young 

 male. 



From a comparison of the two first-mentioned descriptions 

 with that given of the adult by Mr. Sharpe, and with the 

 specimen in the Norwich Museum already mentioned as the 

 type of B. zonocercus, it would appear that the mature birds 

 of this species vary in some degree as regards the markings 

 on the tail; and this probably indicates that the final adjust- 

 ment of coloration on the rectrices is only very gradually 

 attained in this, as in some other species of the genus Buteo. 



An immature specimen in the Norwich Museum agrees 

 generally with Mr. Sharpens description of the type of B. 

 alhonotatus (now also recognized as a synonym of B. abbre- 

 viatus), with the exception that the ground-colour of the 

 plumage is dark brown instead of black as in the speci- 

 men described by Mr. Sharpe. 



I now come to two North- American Buzzards that ap- 

 pear to me to form a group, which (including a third local 

 race not yet acknowledged as specifically distinct) is notable 

 for peculiarities of marking and coloration, by which these 

 birds, when in adult dress, are readily distinguishable from 

 any other members of the genus Buteo. These are Buteo 

 lineatus and Buteo elegans, the former being an inhabitant of 

 the eastern regions of North America, from Texas to New 

 Brunswick, the latter of the western from Mexico to Cali- 

 fornia — both meeting in Texas during the winter months, 

 according to the observations of Mr. Dresser recorded in ' The 

 Ibis' for 18G5, p. 325. 



Mr. Sharpe merely gives B. elegans as a synonym of B. 

 lineatus ; but to me it appears sufficiently distinct to be at 

 least admitted as a good subspecies. 



Full descriptions of B. elegans in both its immature and 

 adult dress will be found in the ' Birds of North America,' by 

 Baird, Cassin, and Lawrence, p. 28, and in the 'Land Birds 

 of North America,' by Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway, vol. iii. 

 p. 277. The adult and immature of this species are figured 



