37 



I shall conclude this paper with the descrij)tion of a ne\v and 

 splendid species of Buzzard, peculiar to the Cachar and Tibet. 



Falconid^. 

 buteonin^. 

 Genus Buteo ? 



Buteo leucocephalus , mihi. — General structure Buteonine, but the 

 tarse two-thirds plumed to the front, and the nude part reticulate, 

 not scutellate ; acropodia half reticulate and half scutellate ; colour 

 medialbrown, with the head and neck raore or less perfectly albescent; 

 chin to breast darker, and breast again paled crescent-wise ; tail with 

 freąuent pale bufF bars ; bill blue ; its tips and the talons black ; legs 

 and cere greenish yellow ; iris hoary ; size extremely large. Length, 

 25| inches (foem.) by 58^ in expanse of ^ving ; closed wing, 17|; 

 bill to gape, 2 ; tail, 11^ ; tarse (to sole), 3f ; centrai toe and nail, 

 2| ; hind, If . Weight 3| Ibs. Caught beyond the sno\vs in Tibet. 



Another species. -vvith the tarse considerably plumed, leads to this 

 bird from the Moor Buzzards. This second species has the general 

 form and characters of the moor buzzard, but is distinguished at 

 once by half the tarse being plumed ; the tarsi likewise are shorter, 

 and so are the toes ; but the tarse is scutellate before and behind, as 

 in that species and the ręst of the Buzzards. There is no sign of 

 the Circine facial disc in the present bird, which is I believe new, 

 and belongs to Buteo proper and not to Circiis. 



Buteo plumipes, mihi. — Throughout of a uniform dusky brown, 

 as in the moor buzzard ; region of the lores only albescent ; cere 

 and legs greenish yellow ; bill blue, -n-ith black tips and talons ; tail 

 very vaguely rayed with a paler shade of colour and wings inter- 

 nally. Of slender make, and with long and acute talons, whereas 

 the white head is of very robust msdie, and has less acute but stronger 

 talons. This is in make as in colours, a Circus ; that, a buzzard 

 proper or an eagle. In plumipes the tarse is scutellate before and 

 behind, reticulate to the sides and at base, and t\vo-thirds of the 

 acropodia likewise are reticulate. ITie cere is large in both, and in 

 both the nares are longitudinally cleft and irregularly ovoid in form. 

 The one passes towards Buteo from Circus, the other towards Aąuila 

 from Buteo. Length (foem.), 19^ inches ; bill, lį ; tail, 9 ; tarse, 3 ; 

 centrai toe and nail, 2 ; hind, 1;^^. Procured in the centrai hilly re- 

 gion. Manners not noted. 



