42 ROUGH-LEGGED BUZZARD. 



the latter in the centre of each feather; chin, fawn-colour, 

 tinged with rust-colour; throat, fawn-colour, or yellowish white 

 inclining to cream-colour, and slightly streaked with brown, 

 sometimes a mixture of fawn and rust-colour; breast, brown, 

 with streaks, or yellowish white with spots of brown, the 

 lower part being banded with a bar of dark brown; back, 

 brown, the feathers being edged with a paler shade. 



The wings, which measure from about four feet two to four 

 feet three or four inches across, and reach nearly to the end 

 of the tail about an inch short of it are brown, some of the 

 feathers edged with fawn-colour; the third and fourth quill 

 feathers are the longest in the wing, the first and second are 

 short. The wings are partly white underneath. Greater wing 

 coverts, pale brown, edged with dull white, or still paler brown, 

 or yellowish white; lesser wing coverts, pale brown, edged with 

 yellow; primaries, brownish black. The tail, which is rather 

 long, and slightly rounded at the end, is white at the base, 

 and irregularly barred with deeper or lighter brown near the 

 end, which is tipped with white, the general colour being buff 

 white on the upper half of the superior surface, and brown on 

 the lower half; beneath, the upper half white, the lower greyish 

 brown. In some specimens there are no indications of bars 

 on either side of the tail, and others have only a band near 

 the tip on the under side; upper tail coverts, white, or buff 

 white, streaked or spotted with brown, and edged with yel- 

 lowish brown; under tail coverts, yellowish white, or buff 

 white. The legs are feathered down to the toes this being 

 in fact the distinguishing 'trait in its character.' The feathers 

 are reddish, tawny yellow, or cream yellow, streaked and spotted 

 with brown; toes, dark yellow, and rather short the outer and 

 middle ones are united by a membrane. They are all reticulated 

 at the upper end, and have several large scales at the lower 

 end, near the claws: the middle toe is said to have seven or 

 eight, the outer one five, and the inner and hinder ones four 

 each; but I must here repeat the remark I have previously 

 made. The claws, black and long, but not much hooked. 



The female is considerably larger than the male the larger 

 measurements given above belonging to her. The lighter parts 

 of the plumage are darker in her than in him, and the under 

 tail coverts are spotted with brown. One variety is so very 

 dark as to appear almost black at a little distance, and the 

 legs and bill are darker in proportion, assuming an orange hue. 



Temminck, and after him Meyer, describes a dark mottled 



