J34 BUTEO VULGARIS. 



tremities ; the secondaries nearly of the general tint : 

 all with the inner webs edged with white, and barred 

 with a deeper shade of brown. On its inferior surface, 

 the wing is much lighter ; there is a white patch in- 

 cluding part of the inner webs of the five outer quills ; 

 the coverts are beautifully barred with white, their 

 ground-colour being in the more distal deep brown, in 

 the proximal light ferruginous. The tail, which is 

 broad and not very long, is deep brown, barred with 

 ash-colour and ferruginous, or it is marked with alter- 

 nate bars of brown and brownish-grey, the last dark 

 bar being the broadest, and the feathers tipped with 

 reddish-white. The number of dark bars is nine on 

 the middle, ten on the lateral, feathers. The feathers 

 on the back of the head are pure white at the base. 

 On the lower surface the prevailing colour is brown, of 

 a lighter shade than on the upper ; on the breast spot- 

 ted, on the belly barred, with white ; the tibial feathers 

 brown, tipped with ferruginous. 



Length 21^ inches, extent of wings 50. 



Of another individual, the length 22 inches, to end 

 of wings 19^; extent of wings 52. 



Variations. — Scarcely two Buzzards can be found 

 exactly alike in their colours, so that this species af- 

 forded the ornithologists of former times an opportu- 

 nity of making several out of it. Sometimes the colour 

 of the plumage is a uniform brown ; while, on the other 

 hand, individuals are seen nearly white, with brown 

 spots on the central parts of the feathers. The brown 

 varies from chocolate to light yellowish or greyish 

 brown ; but middle-aged individuals are generally of a 



