& ROUGH-LEGGED BUZZARDS. 69 



Subfamily BUTEO. 

 COMMON BUZZARD (Buteo vulgaris). 



Resident. Rare and decreasing. Still found in the West, 

 Wales, and Scotland. 



Haunts. Mountains and wild forests. 



Plumage. Upper parts dark brown, mottled with darker 

 brown. Wings blackish brown. Tail dark brown, with twelve 

 transverse lighter bars ; under parts yellowish white, longitu- 

 dinally marked with brown. Bill blackish horn-colour. Cere 

 and legs yellow. Length 20 in. Female, altogether lighter ; 

 length 22 in. Young, much like female. The plumage of 

 this species varies considerably. 



Language. A melancholy kind of mewing. 



Habits. Rather sedentary, remaining perched motionless 

 for long periods of time. On the wing somewhat sluggish, 

 but it delights in soaring upwards in a series of graceful 

 gyrations. 



Food. Small mammals, beetles, worms, grasshoppers, 

 snakes, and lizards. 



Nest. April. One brood. 



Site. On some inaccessible ledge on a mountain or sea-cliff, 

 sometimes in a forest-tree. 



Materials. Sticks and twigs, lined with wool and green 

 leaves. 



Eggs. Two to four. Bluish white, spotted, blotched, and 

 streaked with reddish brown ; under markings purplish grey. 

 Rather variable. 



ROUGH-LEGGED BUZZARD (Buteo lagopus). 



Migrant ; being an irregular winter visitor. 



Haunts. Mountains and waste lands. 



Plumage. Head and neck creamy white, streaked with 

 reddish brown ; upper parts dark brown, blotched and marked 

 with dull white and rufous. Base of tail white and con- 

 spicuous, barred near tip with brown ; under parts buffish 

 white barred with brown, more barred on flanks. Bill blackish 

 horn-colour. Feet and cere yellow. Legs feathered to the toes. 

 Length 23 in. Female similar, but larger, 26 in. Young 

 browner above, less white on the tail, and under parts streaked 

 and not barred. Plumage variable. 



Language. Like the last. 



Habits. Flight more powerful than last, and rather resem- 

 bling the Eagle's. It is distinct from the last, on account of the 

 white on the tail and feathered legs. 



