1 66 FALC0NIF0RME3 



CHAP. 



recorded three times in England, is smaller and more decidedly 

 rufous than B. vulgaris, though hardly distinguishable when 

 immature ; while the bigger B. ferox of similar range, though 

 apparently limited in Africa to the North, is closely allied ; as are 

 B. plumijjes, extending from India to Japan (of which B. leiico- 

 cephalus is a large and probably distinct form) and B. sivainsoni of 

 North America, which migrates as far south as Patagonia, and has 

 almost uniform upper parts and chest. B. horealis, the " Eed- 

 tailed Hawk," occupying with its various races the whole of 

 North America, has a rufous tail with lighter tip and usually a 

 single blackish band, the breast being sooty-black or white, with 

 or without a reddish tinge ; B. alhicaudatus, reaching from Texas 

 to Brazil, is slaty-grey, with rusty markings on the mantle, white 

 under parts and tail, the latter showing grey bars and a wide 

 subterminal black cross-belt ; while B. ablreviatus, found from the 

 southern United States to northern South America, is almost 

 black, with three broad grey and white zones across the rectrices. 

 B. augur and B. auguralis, both from North-East and West 

 Africa, with B. jakal of South Africa, have the upper parts black, 

 some grey on the wings, and the tail chestnut except near the end. 

 The first has a black throat with white streaks and white lower 

 surface, the second a red-brown chest and black spots on the 

 belly, the third is black below with a whitish pectoral patch. 

 Finally, omitting several American species from want of space, 

 B. IrachypterusQ, miniature Common Buzzard is peculiar to 

 Madagascar, B. galapagensis to the Galapagos, B. exsul to Masa- 

 fuera, B. poliosomus to Chili, Patagonia, and the Palklands. 



Parahuteo unicincfus, ranging from the southern United States 

 to Chili and Argentina, a sluggish carrion eater, is sooty-brown 

 with rufous on the wing-coverts and thighs, and a white base and 

 tip to the tail. Buteola Irachyura and B. leucorrhoa of tropical 

 America, separated from Buteo by a central tubercle in the nostril, 

 are black above ; the former being white below and having four 

 dark bars on the ashy tail, the latter only shewing white at 

 the base of the black rectrices, which are crossed by one grey bar. 



Asturina, placed near Astur by some authors, includes two 

 species with Buzzard-like habits, that build slight nests and lay 

 greenish-white eggs. A. plagiata, found from the South-West 

 United States to Panama, is grey, barred with black on the 

 primaries and with white below, while a white median band 



