TSl 



FALCONIDA 



T3S 



with lighter brown, tb* feathers of the former-named part* having 

 lighter-coloured edge* ; the winir-primarie* brownUh-black ; the chin 

 and throat almost white ; front of the neck, breast, under wing- 

 covert*, belly, and thighs, grayiah-white, barred tranver*ely with 

 dark wood-brown ; leg* and torn yellow ; the claw* black. 1 

 (YarrrlU 



The following are varietie* : Potto albulut, Gmel. ; P. rerncolor, 

 OroeL ; Wei*lichcr Busard, Borkh. ' Deut Orn.' (Temminck.) 



Tb* flight of the Buzzard is slow, and it generally remains perched 

 on some tree in the wooded districts patiently waiting for its prey, 

 namely, small quadruped*, bird*, and reptiles, and even earth-worms 

 and insect*. It may be seen sometimes soaring in circle*, but not 

 often, and doe* not pursue it* game, but pounces at it when on the 

 ground. It* nature i* slothful and cowardly, but its philoprogeni- 

 Uveoeat appear* to be great The Cock Buzzard will hatch and bring 

 up the young if the hen i* killed (Ray), and among other instances 

 Mr. Yarrell records one of a female buzzard kept in the garden of the 

 Chequers Inn, at Uxbridg*. which showing an inclination a few years 

 back to make a nest and ait, was supplied with material* and two 

 ben'* eggs, which she hatched and afterwards reared the chicks. Since 

 that time she ha* hatched and brought up a brood of chickens every 

 year. Once they put down chicks just hatched to her to save her the 

 labour of sitting, but she killed them all. Her family, says Mr. 

 Yarrell, in June 1831, consurted of nine; the original number were 

 ten, but one had been lost When flesh was given her she was very 

 assiduous in tearing and offering it ai food for her nurslings, and 

 appeared uneasy if, after taking small portions from her, they turned 

 away to pick up grain. (' British Birds,' where there is an elegant 

 vignette of the bird and her foster family.) Indeed the young remain 

 with the old birds some little time after they quit the nest, contrary 

 to the usage of other bird* of prey, which generally drive away their 

 young as aoon a* they can fly. In Scotland, where the bird is said to 

 be bolder, on rook* or on the edges of steep scars or beds of torrents. 

 (Macgillivray.) In England the Buzzard builds (or sometimes takes 

 to a neat) in the fork of a tree in a wood. The egg* are generally 

 three, sometime* four, abort oval, 2 inches 3 lines in length by 1 inch 

 10 lines in breadth, of a solid white, slightly spotted with pale-brown. 

 (YarrelU 



The Buzzard is common in all the wooded countries nf Europe. 

 Very abundant in Holland. (Temminck.) It is well-known, aays 

 Mr. Yarrell. over the wooded parts of the continent of Europe, 

 south of Russia, and inhabits Spain and Italy, passing over the 

 Mediterranean to North Africa : but Trebizond, Smyrna, and Madeira, 

 appear to be it* limit* to the southward. Prince Bonaparte notes it 

 a* very common near Rome. In several part* of Ireland it is common 

 (Thompson) ; not very plentiful in Scotland, nor does it appear in the 

 lists of the birds of Orkney and Shetland, by the Rev. Mr. Low and 

 Mr. Dunn, though it occurs in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Russia. 

 Mr. Gould, in noticing the Trebizond birds presented to the Zool. 

 Hoc. by Mr. Keith Abbott, among which it was, observes that it was 

 not previously observed in Asia, although there is a nearly allied 

 specie* in the Himalaya Mountains, and that it had not then been 

 noticed in Africa. (' Zool. Proc.,' 1334.) In England, though lately 

 more rare, it i still far from uncommon. 



i<>hn Richardson (' Fauna Boreali-Americana') states that the 

 Common Buzzard arrive* in the Fur Countries in the middle of April, 

 very soon afterwards begin* to build it* nest, and, having reared its 

 young, depart* about the end of September. It haunts the low 

 alluvial point* of land which stretch out under the high banks of a 

 river, and may be obaerved for a long time motionless on the bough of a 

 tree watching for *ome small quadruped, bird, or reptile to pass within 

 it* n-ach. A* won a* it eapies it* prey, it glide* silently into the air, 

 and sweeping eamly but rapidly down seize* it in it* claws. When 

 disturbed, it make* a short circuit, and aoon settle* on another perch. 

 On* of Sir John'* apecimcn* bad two middle-sited toad* in it* crop. 

 It build* it* ne*t, h* ays, on a tree, of short stick*, lining it with doer's 

 hair. The egg* are from three to five in number, and he remarks that it 

 wa* awn by tb* expedition a* far north as the 57th parallel, and that 

 it mo*t probably baa a still higher range. He give* a description 

 nf two ; one a male, shot on the 1 7th June at the nest, which contained 

 three egp, on tb* plain* of the Saskatchewan ; and another, a female, 

 killed at the nt also, near Carlton, May 22. 



lltilm ftatka i* recorded by Major .lames Franklin among the 

 collection formed by him on tb* banks of the Gange* and in the 

 mountain chain of Upper Hindustan. In the South African Museum 

 the S. Jackal and H. TVAnrtfcu are prmerved. The former obtains 

 it* name from utUring a cry somewhat similar to that of the small 

 qnarlrupfd* called Jackal* at the Cape. It abounds throughout 

 Kouth Africa. In the same collection will be found Iluiafir* /x-wonit. 



6th Sub-Family, Milrina (Kites). 



Beak moderate, rather li-.k-l from the base. Tsil forked. The 

 length of the wings and the forked tail, instrument' of action to which 

 the bird* are indebted for their peculiar power and gracefulne** of 

 flight, are the character* which more particularly separate the Kites 

 from the rest of th.Aiptore.. 



Biwiu (H*vigny).-Beak moderate, weak, compressed ; tarsi short, 

 etniplaemd ; acrotaraia reticulated ; claws, with the exception of 



the middle one, rounded internally ; second quill longest ; first and 

 second quill* strongly notched internally. 



S. mdanopttrtu, the Black-Winged Swallow-Hawk. Thi* is the 

 Paleo melanopleria nf D.iudin ; K. <.'"'"' nf S.ivigny ; and Le Blac of 

 Le Vaillant Si/.e of a Sparrow-Hawk. 1'lumage soft and silky; 

 tail a little forked. Above ash-coloured, quills blackish, beak and 

 shoulders black. Below white. Tail principally white. Feet yellow. 



Black-WingcU Swallow.II.iwk (Ktaiint mttmtiftfrm). 



The bird is snid to live principally upon insects, which it capture* 

 on the wing, It is common in Africa from Egypt to the Cape. There 

 i* a specimen in the South African Museum. Savigny speaks of it as 

 being in great abundance in Syria, Egypt, and Barbary. Crunch 

 (Tuckey's Expedition) saw great numbers at the mouth of the Congo, 

 and some were sent home from thence. Lesson says that it occur* in 

 Australia. It is noticed among the birds collected by Major .lames 

 Franklin on the banks of the Gauges, and in the mountain-chain <( 

 Upper Hindustan. 



tfaitclerui (Vigors). Beak rather short, weak, compressed ; nostrils 

 sub-oval, placed in the cere, which ia furnished with bristles in an 

 oblique direction ; wings long, second or third quill longest ; tail long, 

 very much forked; feet short, weak; tarsi reticulated; acmt n>i:i 

 feathered below the knee to the middle ; claws not cylindrical ; body 

 slender, elegant. 



Mr. Vigors observes that Xauclertu is distinguished from the true 

 Milrui by the greater development of the character of the forked 

 tail ; by the relative proportion of the wing-feathere, the fourth being 

 the longest in Milrui; and by the reticulation of the acrotarsia, those 

 of Milrtu being covered with even scales or scutellated. He divides 

 the genus into two sections. 



1st. With the second quill longest. 

 .\. KioroHrii may be given as an example. 

 2nd. With the third quill longest. 



lf.fnrcat<a (Palco furcatiu, Linn.), the Swallow-Tailed Hawk. 

 Whole length 20 inches ; beak bluish-black, cere lighter blue, ii i>l--.- 

 dark ; head, neck, breast, belly, under surface of the wings, side* of 

 the body, thighs, and under tail-coverts, pure white; back, wing- 

 primaries, secondaries, upper tail-coverts, and tail-feathers, black, \\nli 

 a purplish metallic lustre ; tertials black on the outer webs, but patched 

 with pure white on the inner ; tail very deeply forked ; legs and toes 

 greenish-blue ; claws faded orange. (Yarrell.) 



We select Mr. Audubon's account of the habits and locality of thin 

 graceful bird : " A solitary individual of this species has once or 

 twice been seen in Pennsylvania, Farther to the eastward the Swallow 

 Tailed Hawk has never, I believe, been observed. Travelling south- 

 ward along the Atlantic coast, wo find it in Virginia, although in 

 very small numbers. Beyond that state it becomes ni<>r al.uiidant.. 

 Near the falls of the Ohio a pair had a nest, and reared four young 

 ones in 1820. In the lower parts of Kentucky it begins to become 

 more numerous ; but in the states farther to the south, and particularly 

 in part* near the sea, it is abundant. In the large prairies <>! the 

 Attacapas and Oppellousa* it is extremely common. In the state* of 

 Louisiana and Mississippi where thesn birds are abundant, they 

 arrive in large companies in the beginning of April, ami are heard 

 uttering a sharp plaintive note. At this period 1 generally remarked 

 that they came from the westward, and have counted upwards of a 

 hundred in the space of an hour, passing over me in a direct easterly 

 course. At that season and in the beginning of September, when 

 they all retire from the United States, they are easily approached 

 when they have alighted, being then apparently fatigued, and busily 

 engaged in preparing themselves for continuing their journey, by 



