BUZZAKD. 37 



spotted with brown on each feather. The legs, which are 

 rather short, are feathered about a third down, the bare part, 

 which is yellow, being covered nearly all round, but principally 

 in front, with a series of scales. The toes, bright yellow, and 

 short the third being the longest, and united to the fourth 

 by a tolerably large web; the others are nearly of equal length. 

 In specimens of this bird of dark plumage, the colour of the 

 legs is correspondingly darker than in those of a lighter hue. 

 The toes are reticulated to about half their length; claws, 

 black, or nearly black, and though very sharp, not very 

 strongly hooked. 



The female is considerably larger than the male, measuring 

 from one foot nine to one foot ten inches in length, and nearly 

 five feet across the wings; sometimes as much as full five feet. 

 The young birds, while in the nest, are of a lighter colour 

 than the old ones, and the tips of the feathers are paler than 

 the rest the whole plumage being variegated with brown, and 

 white, and the latter predominant on the back of the neck. 

 As they advance towards maturity, the plumage at each moult 

 becomes gradually of a darker hue, and at the same time the 

 white or yellowish white markings on the throat and lower 

 parts become more apparent and distinct. The iris is deep 

 brown in the immature state, and becomes of its permanent 

 colour when the bird is adult. 



'A beautiful variety,' says Mr. Meyer, 'of which there is a 

 specimen in the Zoological Museum, is also occasionally seen, 

 but is comparatively rare. The ground of the plumage in 

 this variety is white, tinged in various parts with yellow. 

 The head is marked down the centre of the feathers with 

 narrow streaks of brown; a few of the feathers on the breast 

 are marked with arrow-shaped spots of the same colour, the 

 smaller coverts of the wings the same. The quill feathers are 

 dark brown towards the tips; the tail is crossed on a white 

 ground with dark brown bars, seven or eight in number, the 

 bar nearest to the white tip broader than the rest. In the 

 white variety the eyes also partake of the light colour of the 

 plumage, and are pearl- coloured, or greyish white; the cere 

 and feet are also lighter in the same proportion, being a pale 

 lemon yellow.' 



