COMMON BUZZARD. 467 



Length to end of tail 25^ inches ; extent of wings 48; 

 wing from flexure 161 ; tail lOi; bill along the back 

 1/g, along the edge of lower mandible 1/,^ ; tarsus 3^ ; 

 first toe f , its claw li ; second i§, its claw ly^<j ; third 

 U, its claw il ; fourth Ij^^, its claw f . 



In a male examined in December, the oesophagus was 

 seven inches and a half long, its dilatation two and a 

 half ; the stomach three inches long ; the intestine four 

 feet three inches ; the coeca three-twelfths long, and 

 four and a half inches from the anus. 



In the stomach of this individual was a mole, torn 

 into four portions and undigested, its skull broken. 



I stated, at page 140, that I had not seen a buzzard 

 nearly twenty-six inches long ; but the one mentioned 

 above was twenty-five and a half, and I have seen 

 another female twenty-six precisely. So the remark, 

 although quite true, is of no value. Measurements 

 taken from dry skins, however, are of as little ; for the 

 skin of a bird may easily be stretched or contracted a 

 few inches, and can seldom be precisely what it ought 

 to be. 



FALCO ISLANDICUS. GYR FALCON. P. 152. 



I have lately seen two skins of this species sent to 

 Professor Jameson from Shetland, the one of an old 

 bird, the other probably of a young female. Mr Low, 

 in his Fauna Orcadensis, states, that he has seen it in 

 Orkney, but is inclined to think it not a permanent re- 

 sident there. 



