RED-BACKED BUZZARD 47 



RED-BACKED BUZZARD 



Buteo erythronotus 



Above slatey blue ; wing feathers slatey with narrow black bars ; 

 upper tail-coverts and tail white, the latter crossed with narrow 

 grey bars and broad black band ; beneath white ; bill dark horn- 

 colour; feet yellow; length 25, wing 18.5 inches. Female similar, 

 but back deep chestnut. 



THIS is a fine bird the king of South-American 

 Buzzards. In the adult female the three colours of 

 the plumage are strongly contrasted ; the back being 

 rusty rufous, the rest of the upper parts grey, the 

 whole under surface pure white* It is occasionally 

 met with in the northern provinces of the Argentine 

 Republic, but is most common in Patagonia ; and 

 it has been said that in that region it takes the place 

 of the nearly allied Buteo albicaudatus of Brazil* In 

 habits, however, the two species are as different as 

 it is possible for two Raptores to be; for while the 

 northern bird has a cowardly spirit, is, to some 

 extent, gregarious, and feeds largely on insects, the 

 Patagonian species has the preying habits of the 

 Eagle and lives exclusively, I believe, or nearly so, 

 on cavies and other small mammals. When Captain 

 King first discovered it in 1827, he described it as 

 " a small beautiful Eagle/ ' In Patagonia it is very 

 abundant, and usually seen perched on the summit 

 of a bush, its broad snowy-white bosom conspicuous 

 to the eye at a great distance one of the most 

 familiar features in the monotonous landscape of 



