362 SPOLIA ZEYLANICA. 
Bill black ; cere greenish-yellow ; iris yellow, brownish in 
young birds ; legs and feet yellow. 
Length 21; wing 16; tail 9°5; tarsus about 3-4; mid-toe 
without claw 1:75; bill from gape 1°35. Females are 
generally slightly larger. 
Distribution.—A migrant visiting the Island in fair numbers 
during the north-east monsoon ; more plentiful in some years 
than in others, and always rather locally distributed, mainly 
round the coastal swamps and lagoons. It occurs in winter in 
suitable localities throughout India and Burma, and its range 
extends over most of the Old World. 
Habits, &c.—lt frequents marshes, paddy fields, and some- 
times dry grass lands. It lives on frogs, fish, and insects, but, 
being a far more powerful species than our other Harriers, it 
can also tackle birds, and will occasionally carry off a wounded 
snipe or teal. A few birds breed in India, so a stray nest may, 
perhaps, be found in Ceylon. The nest is made of straw or 
grass placed among reeds or on the ground. The four or five 
eggs are white, at times slightly spotted with bright reddish- 
brown. Size about 2 by 1°50. 
Group V.— Buzzards. 
The Buzzards, structurally, are closely allied to the Eagles, 
differing from them mainly in their less powerful beaks and 
claws, and in their partially naked tarsi. Another distinctive 
characteristic is that, though the colouration varies enormously 
in different specimens, there is no distinct immature plumage. 
Only one species occurs in Ceylon, and that species as an 
exceedingly rare straggler. It is of about the same size and 
general colour as an immature Brahminy Kite, but may be 
distinguished by the tarsus, which is about twice as long as 
the measurement in a straight line from the gape to the tip of 
the bill, and is feathered in front to halfway down or more ; 
the naked portion both in front and behind is covered mainly 
by transverse plates. The bill is moderate, and curves from 
the cere, the festoon is but slight. The wings are ample, long, 
and pointed ; the tail is moderately Jong and rounded at the 
end; the toes are short. 
