. BUTEO. 389 



Genus BUTEO, Cu.vier, 1800. 



The true Buzzards, to which the next two genera belong, are, as 

 Blyth and Jerdon long ago pointed out, closely allied to Eagles, 

 from which, indeed, they chiefly differ structurally by their less 

 powerful bills and claws. By far their most distinctive character 

 is one on which very little stress had been laid by ornithologists, 

 though it has not escaped Prof. A. Newton, and consists in the 

 want of any distinct immature garb ; all Buzzards, so far as is 

 known, assuming the adult plumage at once from the downy 

 stage. It is true that a shght change is believed to be produced 

 by age, the bars on the tail gradually disappear, and in some 

 species there is a tendency to barring on the lower surface in old 

 birds. The coloration, despite the want of a distinct immature 

 phase, is exceedingly variable — pale, rufous, and melanistic forms 

 being found in several species. These colour variations were, 

 until recently, attributed to age, but, so far as I can ascertain, 

 wrongly. A series of moulting specimens*, for instance of 

 B. ferox, would afford valuable information, it being borne in 

 mind that the plumage which is being shed is always faded. 



In the genus Biiteo the bill is small or moderate, the culmen is 

 curved from the cere, the commissure nearly straight, the festoon 

 being only slightly developed ; the nostrils are oval and oblique ; 

 the wings ample and long, the 3rd, 4th, and 5th quills subequal, 

 the 4th generally a little the longest, the first four quills deeply 

 notched on the inner web ; tail moderately long, rounded at the 

 end ; tarsus long, partly or wholly feathered in front, naked and 

 more or less covered with transverse scutellae behind ; toes short, 

 lateral toes and claws very unequal. 



Buzzards are comparatively sluggish birds, with a heavy flight, 

 and less given to soaring than Eagles are, though occasionally they 

 may be seen far up in the air. They feed on small mammals, 

 reptiles, and insects, which they seize on the ground. They make 

 nests of sticks, lined with grass or other soft material, on rocks or 

 trees, and their eggs are greenish white, deeply blotched with 

 brownish red. 



This genus ranges throughout a great part of the world, 

 but only occurs in parts of India, and is unknown in Burma, the 

 Malayan countries, and Australia. The forms found in India 

 may be classed in three species. 



Key to the Si^ecies. 



a, "Wing more than 16 inches. 



a'. Tarsus half-feathered, naked part in front 



scutellate B.ferox, p. 390. 



h . Tarsus two-thirds feathered, naked part in 



front reticulated B. leucocephalus, p. 392. 



h. Wing less than 16 inches B. desertorum, p. 393. 



* In selecting specimens for museums and private collections, it has been 

 generally the practice to pick out the fine freshly moulted skins and to reject the 

 comparatively ragged specimens that were moulting when shot ; both, however, 

 are needed for study. 



