FISH-UA WK. 293 



Gxceecl this size, the tail especially being longer. If now we take the broad-winged 

 hwrar^. {Jj. pcnnsi/lvanicun), on\y swicen inches long, wing eleven inches, and tail 

 seven, we have about the minimum. 



The type of the genus is the common buzzard {B. vxdr/aris), of Europe, now quite 

 scarce in Great Britain, and entirely confined, as a resident, to a few large wooded 

 tracts. In northern Africa and eastern Europe it is rej)laced by the smaller African 

 buzzard {B. dcsertorum), probably only a geogra])hical variety of vulgaris. In Amer- 

 ica, too, a species (Swainson's buzzard, B. swainsoni), is recognized, which is very 

 near the European vtih/aris, if not actually the same. Like some other North Amer- 

 ican Falconida;, it has a large range, occurring under one name or another from the 

 Arctic Ocean to Patagonia. Nearly all the species of this large genus are more or 

 less subject to melanism, a good example of a rather stable race of this kind being 

 the western form of the red-tailed hawk {B. borealis), known usually under the sub- 

 specific title of calurus, a buzzard of very different appearance from the eastern tyjie, 

 but specifically identical, as sliown by the intermediate forms, which show every [tos- 

 sible gradation. Such cases as these, coupled with the great <lifferenccs due to age, 

 and the wide individual variations, have brought confusion little less than hopeless 

 into our lists. 



Although but one species of osprey {Pandion) probably exists, yet its peculiari- 

 ties warrant its separation from the eagles, with which it has usually been associated, 

 and necessitate the formation of a sul)-family (Pandionime) for its reception. This 

 may be characterized as follows : Outer toe reversible, all the toes without basal webs ; 

 superciliary shield rudimentary; tibia long, closely and evenly feathered ; plumage 

 without aftershafts. As there is but one genus, witli a single species, the following 

 characters may be added without attemji'ting to grade them : The bill is strong, tooth- 

 less, but with a very long, sharp liook ; the tarsus reticulate, feet very large, toes witli 

 the under surface roughened by close-set jiapillas ; all the claws of the same length, 

 (unique among Falconidae), long, much curved, and extremely sharp, not grooved 

 beneath, but smooth, and nearly round, the middle one channelled on the inside. 

 Featliers rather harsh and stiff; wings long and pointed ; tail ratlier short. 



It is difficult to imagine a hawk or an eagle better fitted for its trade than is the 

 well-known fish-hawk or osprey. The plumage is such that the bird may remain 

 innuersed for several seconds in the water without wetting tiie feathers, and the pow- 

 erful wings enable it to rise lightly after its Jilunge, and lift with ease the slippery 

 prey which is helpless in the grasp of the marvellously perfect feet. 



Tiie. osprey is found in almost all countries of the globe, but as yet it is not known 

 to occur in Iceland or New Zealand. It breeds, however, in such widely sejiarated 

 places as Hudson's Bay and tlie Red Sea, Kamtschatka and Florida. The liabits of 

 the bird seem to vary somewhat in different countries, and through persecution in 

 some ] places, or peculiarly favorable circumstances in others, the location of the nest 

 varies consider.ably. All along the Atlantic seaboard of tlie United States it breeds 

 abundantly ; and the nests, conspicuously placed on the tops of large, dead trees, are 

 visil)le from long distances, and where the species is .abundant several nests may fre- 

 quently be seen from the same point. Indeed, instances are known of scores or 

 even hundreds of pairs nesting close together, and in organized communities. 



The Euroi>ean bird, on the contrary, is nowhere .abundant, being usually met with 

 only singly or in ]>airs, and mucli more frc<iuently about fresh water than along the 

 seashore. In Great Britain the bird is now rarely n>et with, except as a straggler, 



