ROUGH-LEGGED BUZZARD. 97 



subdued daylight, which illuminates even the midnight 

 hours in high parallels of latitude. Wilson observes, 

 that in Pennsylvania it is in the habit of coursing over 

 the meadows long after the sun has set. It is fitted for 

 this nocturnal chase by the softness of its plumage, which 

 contributes to render its flight noiseless, like that of an 

 Owl." 



The whole length of the specimen figured was twenty- 

 four inches ; the beak black ; the cere and irides yellow ; 

 the top of the head, the cheeks, nape, and upper part of the 

 neck, pale buff, each feather streaked or patched in the 

 centre with dark brown; the back, wings, wing-coverts, 

 and rump, clove brown, some of the feathers edged with 

 fawn colour ; primaries brownish black, the fourth the 

 longest, the first and seventh equal in length ; upper tail- 

 coverts bufly white, with an angular brown patch near the 

 end of each feather; upper surface of the tail-feathers 

 buffy white on the proximal half of their length, the 

 distal half brown. The chin, throat, and breast, fawn 

 colour, tinged with ferruginous, streaked and patched 

 with brown ; the belly almost uniform clove brown ; thighs 

 and tarsi, to the junction of the toes, covered with fea- 

 thers of fawn colour spotted with brown : the toes with 

 three broad scales at the base of the claw, yellow; the 

 claws or nails black : under surface of the wing-primaries 

 to the end of the broad part of the inner web white, 

 from the emargination brownish black: under tail-co- 

 verts uniform buffy white : proximal half of the under 

 surfaces of the tail-feathers white, the distal half greyish 

 brown. 



VOL. i. H 



