88 BIRDS OF INDIA. 



neck ; rump and upper tail coverts uniform brown ; tail pale rufous, 

 with narrow brown bars, the terminal one widest ; quills grey 

 brown, Avith brown bars, inner web white ; wings beneath nearly 

 pure white ; cheeks and throat whitish, each feather centred 

 rufous brown ; the rest of the plumage beneath bright deep rufous, 

 barred with white ; thigh coverts darker, not barred. 



Irides brown; cere and legs yellow. Length, male 21 inches; 

 Aving 15; tail 8 ; ext. 48; tars. 3j%. 



A female measures 24 inches ; wing 18 ; tail 9^ ; tarsus 3;^ ; 

 mid-toe and claw 2^ ; bill at gape If. 



The European buzzard appears to be a rare inhabitant of the 

 hilly regions only of India. I shot the specimen described above 

 on the Neilgherries, near some swampy ground, and saw others on 

 several occasions in similar ground, and some on the skirts of the 

 woods. It has also been found in Nepal and Sikkim. I procured it 

 at Darjeeling. It preys on lizards, frogs, mice and rats, shrews, 

 and young or sickly birds. In Europe it frequents chiefly the more 

 wooded regions, and builds both in trees and on rocks. 



45. Buteo canescens, Hodgson. 



Beng. Sport. Mag. 1836.— B. longipes, Jerdon, Cat. 21— B. 

 rufinus, RupPELL, apud Blyth, Cat. 117 — and Horsf., Cat. 

 71 — Chuhamar, H. 



The Long-legged Buzzard. 



Descr. — Young, head, neck, throat, breast, and belly white, some 

 of the feathers streaked with brown, and dashed with buff; back 

 and wing coverts pale yellowish brown, some of the feathers 

 edged with rufous ; quills dusky brown, whitish on their inner 

 webs, and the secondaries barred ; tail with the outer webs reddish 

 white, inner webs dirty whitish, barred with brown ; cere greenish 

 yellow ; irides pale dun ; legs pale yellow. 



In a more advanced state of plumage the head and neck are 

 rufescent brown, with a whitish eye streak ; back and wing coverts 

 darker brown, with a tinge of purple in the freshly-moulted bird, 

 and many of the feathers edged with rufous ; quills greyish on their 

 outer web, with a dusky tip, and whitish mternally, except at the 



