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BUTEO LAGOPUS— VIGORS 

 ROUGH-LEGGED BUZZARD. 



Black Hawk, Falco niger, Wils. Amer. Orn. 

 Falco lagopus, Bonap. Syn. 



Buteo lagopus, Rough-legged Buzzard, S*v. & Rich. 

 Rough-legged FtJco lagopus, Aud. Orn. Biog. 



Specific Character — Tarsi feathered their entire length. Adult 

 with a white patch on the forehead and hind part of the neck ; rest 

 parts blackish-brown ; wing quills and tail feathers white towards 

 their bases, that color extending over the larger portion of the inner 

 webs of the primaries ; tarsi feathered to the toes. Young with the 

 head and neck yellowish- white, streaked with dusky ; the fore part 

 of the breast of a more decided yellow, and marked with brownish, 

 black spots ; the middle and lower portion of the breast blackish- 

 brown ; the rest of the lower parts pale yellowish-red ; upper parts 

 dark brown, the feathers broadly edged with yellowish-white and 

 light reddish-brown ; at the base of the tail feathers a broad band 

 of pale yellowish-white, some of the feathers spotted with light 

 reddish-brown. Length of male twenty-one inches, wing fif- 

 teen and three quarters. Female twenty-four inches and a half, 

 wing seventeen and three quarters. 



This is another species by no means common to Long Island. 

 The few that I have met with I have observed coursing over the 

 necks of land, and reconnoitering about the creeks in pursuit of 

 mice and wounded birds, which are doubtless the attraction to 

 these low, moist situations. The Rough-legged Buzzard displays 

 much less activity on the wing than most other species ; its flight is 

 heavy, and it is usually seen passing low and leisurely over its 

 hunting grounds. 



