BIRDS OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 201 



THE Common Buzzard (Buteo vulgaris, Leach) is generally 

 considered a resident species in the British Isles, but during 

 the non-nesting time it shifts about considerably. It is 

 also found throughout Europe, but does not occur in the 

 extreme North or in Western Asia. The adult has the 

 upper parts dark brown, margined with paler brown ; head, 

 pale brown, with dark brown markings ; tail-feathers, pale 

 brown, or greyish-white, crossed by several dark brown bars ; 

 quills, blackish ; chin, huffish and unspotted ; under parts, 

 buffish, spotted and mottled with brown ; irides, brown ; 

 bill, bluish-black ; cere and legs, yellow. Length, from 

 twenty to twenty-three inches. 



