54 RAPTORES. BUTECX 



SUBFAMILY BUTEONINA. 



Bill weak, bending immediately from the base. Wings 

 long and ample ; the first four feathers having their inner 

 webs notched near the tips. First quill short ; the third and 

 fourth generally the longest. Thigh feathers long and pen- 

 dant. Tarsi partly naked, or clothed with feathers. Plu- 

 mage soft and downy. In disposition, the members of this 

 subfamily are, for the most part, sluggish and inactive, and 

 devoid of the courage that distinguishes the other species of 

 the Falconidae. They pounce their prey upon the ground. 

 In their affinities, they are nearly allied by some species 

 (Buteo borealis, &c.) to the Goshawks (gen. Astur} ; and in 

 the Harriers (gen. Circus), there is an evident approach to 

 the owls in the radiated ruff surrounding the head. 



GENUS BUTEO, BECHST. BUZZARD. 



GENERIC CHARACTERS. 



Bill rather weak, bending from the base ; the cutting mar- 

 gin of the upper mandible slightly sinuated, and shewing an 

 obtuse lobe; sides compressed, widening towards the base, 

 where the culmen is broad and flat. Under mandible shal- 

 low, with the tip obliquely truncated. Cere large ; nostrils 

 rather pyriform, with the narrow end turning upwards and 

 forwards. Wings long and ample ; the first quill very short, 

 and not exceeding the seventh in length ; the second shorter 

 than the fifth ; the third and fourth the largest in the wing. 

 The first four having their inner webs deeply notched ; the 

 third, fourth, and fifth with the outer webs obliquely sinua- 

 ted. Legs with the tarsi short, naked, and scutellated in 

 front, or feathered to the toes. Toes rather short ; the front 

 ones united at the base. Claws strong, but not much hooked. 



