Birds. 287 



Buteo desertorum. Bill and cere yellow ; eyes red ; head, 

 neck, back, and belly, ferruginous red ; the latter with dashes 

 of black; throat, breast, and under tail coverts greyish white. 

 Primary quill feathers black. Tail ferruginous red above ; 

 greyish white with indistinct transverse bands, beneath. Legs 

 and toes yellow ; claws black. Smaller than Buteo Jackal. 



Inhabits South Africa, rare. 



Falco desertorum, Daud. Shaw, Lath. Le Eougri, Le Yaill. 

 Ois. d' Afriq. pi 17. 



Genus BUTAETES. Lesson. 



Bill slender, arched from the base ; nostrils oblique ; wings 

 nearly as long as the tail, fourth feather the longest; tarsi 

 feathered to the toes. 



Butaetus buteo, Lesson. Over each eye a narrow black 

 stripe ; head, neck, breast, anterior part of belly, and legs, 

 white, with longitudinal brown stripes, largest on the sides of 

 breast and belly ; interscapulars, scapulars, and shoulders, 

 brown, margined with rufous or white ; back nearly an uniform 

 brown ; upper tail coverts white, dashed with brown ; centre of 

 belly and flanks dark brown, variegated with rufous or tawny 

 white ; hinder portion of belly and under tail coverts an uniform 

 dull white. Primary wing feathers brown, both vanes towards 

 quills white ; secondaries brown, inner vanes white towards 

 quills ; all the feathers obscurely tipt with dusky white. Tail 

 white towards base, grey-brown towards extremity, with an in- 

 distinct dark band immediately behind the tip, which is dull 

 white. Bill dark horn-colour ; the base of lower mandible, 

 cere, and toes, yellow ; claws black. 



Inhabits South Africa and Europe. 



Falco lagopus, G-mel. Buse Gantee, Le Yaill. Ois. d' Afriq. 

 pi. 18. 



Butaetes Lessonii, Smith. Above brown, the shoulder 

 feathers margined with brown-white ; ears and space behind 

 base of lower mandible brown-black ; under parts white ; the 

 breast and anterior part of belly streaked with brown-black. 

 Primary wing feathers black-brown, the inner vanes towards 

 quills white, secondaries with blackish transverse bands on 

 inner vanes, and all tipt with white ; inside of shoulders white, 

 spotted with black. Tail nearly even, the feathers black- 

 brown, variegated with narrow waved irregular bars of a darker 

 tint, and all tipt with obscure white. Bill bluish black ; cere 

 and toes yellow. Length eighteen inches. 



Young. Cere and toes greenish yellow ; head and back of 

 neck light brown, feathers margined with rufous ; interscapu- 



