312 A VES- ORDER A CCIPITRIFORMES. 



istic of the Buzzards, which on the one hand are allied to the Gos-Hawks, 

 and on the other to the Eagles, the difference between the latter and the 

 Buzzards being by no means strongly marked. 



At the head of the Buteoninw we find the genus Erythrotriorchis, or 

 Rufous Buzzard-Hawks, of which there are two species, one, E. radiatus, 

 found in Australia, and the other, E. dorian, inhabiting New Guinea. They 

 are very rare birds, and but little has been recorded concerning their habits. 



Of the succeeding genera, Buteogallus and Tachytriorchis, also very little is 

 known. They are Neotropical forms ; but T. abbreviatus and T. albicaudatus 

 occur in the Southern United States, and some good accounts of their nesting 

 have been published by Captain Bendire in his excellent work on the '* Life- 

 Histories of North American Birds." The latter species visits Southern 

 Texas during the summer, and migrates south in winter, visiting South 

 America as far 'as Argentina in companies. In the winter Mr. W. H. 

 Hudson has known them to become so reduced in flesh that, after every cold 

 rain or severe frost, numbers would be found dead under the trees where 

 they roosted, and in that way most of them perished before the return of 

 spring. Captain B. F. Goss found the species breeding abundantly near 

 Corpus Christi, in Texas, in the spring of 1882. His note to Captain Bendire 

 is as follows: "I found the favourite breeding-places of the White-tailed 

 Hawk to be a strip of open bushy land, lying between the thick line of 

 timber and chaparral along the coast and the open prairie. Any bush rising a 

 little above the surrounding level seemed a suitable nesting site, and no 

 attempt was made to conceal the nest. In most places it was very prominent, 

 and could be seen for a long distance. I examined fifteen, and they were all 

 placed in low bushes, generally not higher than 6 ft. In a few cases I hid to 

 stand upon the waggon to reach them. They were composed of sticks, dry 

 weeds, and grasses, a coarse, dry grass entering largely into the composition 

 of most of them. They were poorly constructed, but moderately hollowed, 

 and usually lined with a few green twigs or leaves. Taken as a whole, 

 the nests looked ragged in outline and slovenly in finish. About one nest in 

 four contained three eggs ; the rest but two. These Hawks are wary, and 

 difficult of approach at all times. They would leave their nests as soon as we 

 came in sight, sometimes when still half a mile away, and generally they kept 

 entirely out of sight. An occasional pair sailed high over our heads, uttering 

 a faint cry while we were at their nest. Only a single one came within 

 reach of our guns." Both of the genera Heterospizias and Tachytriorchis 

 differ from the typical Buzzards in their shorter tails, the wings reaching 

 beyond the tip of the latter. 



The genus Buteo contains about twenty species, of which our European 



Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo) is the type. They are almost identical in 



their mode of life one with another, and mostly resemble 



The True Buzzards, small Eagles in their habits. They are, as a rule, useful 



Genus Buteo. birds, as they feed upon rats and mice, insects, and small 

 reptiles, which they pounce upon from a sitting position ; 

 hence they do not often capture birds, as they do not take their prey on the 

 wing. The nest of the Common Buzzard is a somewhat large structure, built in 

 a tree, and is flat at the top and lined with fresh green leaves. The eggs 

 are three or four in number, white, or bluish white in colour, the markings 

 being blotches or streaks of a rich brown colour, which are often absent. 



Of the utility of the Buzzards to the farmer and agriculturist very good 

 proof is given in Dr. A. K. Fisher's work on the "Hawks and Owls of the 



