HUTFONIN /P.. 23 



upper tail coverts dusky cyaneous, darkest on the head. Nape mottled 

 with white. Tail siatey grey, brownish on lateral feathers, and with seven 

 narrow transverse bars on the inner webs and four broad blackish bars on both 

 webs of the other ten feathers. Sides of neck and coverts dusky, the latter 

 with traces of rufous strrae. Chin and throat white with one central blackish 

 stripe ; a streak of white over the eye. Breast deep ferruginous at the sides, 

 the central portion having the feathers a mixture of blackish, deep ferrugi- 

 nous and white. Sides, flanks, and upper abdomen ferruginous, imperfectly 

 barred with white; lower abdomen white, barred with pale ferruginous. 

 Tibial plumes white, closely barred with rusty grey ; under tail coverts white. 



Hob. Throughout the Indian Peninsula nearly. Occurs in the Concan and 

 Deccan, Rajpootana, in South and Central India ; also in the Punjab, N.-W. and 

 Central Provinces, the Himalayas, and S. Andamans. Mr. Wallace gives it from 

 Malacca, Timor, and Java, and Dr. Jerdon says extends to Assam, Burmah, and 

 Malayans. Mr. Thompson (Rough Notes) is confident that it breeds in the 

 forests of Gurhwal from March to May, but nothing certain is known. It is 

 caught wherever fairly numerous and much used by falconers for the quarry. 

 It is said however to be a difficult bird to train, but when trained fetches a 

 considerable price, being speedy and active, especially at partridges, quails* 

 doves and snipe. 



Sub-Family-BUTEONlN^:. 



Bill small, moderate, tip hooked. Wings moderate ; tail generally short ; 

 tarsi with scuta? in front and behind tibia longer than tarsus. Outer toe 

 connected to middle toe by interdigital membrane. 



Gen. Buteo. Cuv. 



Bill short with hooked tip ; margin of upper mandible slightly festooned ; 

 nostrils oval. Lores clothed with bristle-like feathers. Wings long ; 3rd, 4th, 

 and $th quills sub-equal and longest ; inner webs of 1st four quills strongly 

 notched. Tarsus bare or feathered on the upper third only. 



21. Buteo ferOX, S. G. Gmelin, N. Comm. Ac. Petrop. xv. p 442 ; 

 Hume, Rough Notes, ii. p. 274 ; Stray Feathers, iv. p. 362 (1873) '> Sharpe, 

 Cat. Ace. p. 176. Buteo canescens, Hodgs. Beng. Sport. Mag. 1836, p. 180 ; 

 Jerd. B. of Ind. p. 88, No. 45. Buteo longipes, Jerd. Madr. Journ. x. 

 p. 75. B. aquilinus, Hodgs. J. A. S. B. xiv. p. 176 ; Jerd. B. of Ind. i. 

 p. 90, No. 46. The LONG-LEGGED BUZZARD. 



The plumage of this large and handsome Buzzard varies considerably in all 

 its different stages. This circumstance has led to its being described as 

 cancsccns, Hodgs ; longipes, Jerdon ; rufinus, Rupp. ; leucurus, Naum. ; and 

 fuliginosus, Hume. Mr. Hume in his scrap book goes very minutely into the 

 differences observed in the plumage of its various stages, and states at page 

 281, that "the great difficulty we meet with in assigning any chronological 



