FISH-HA WK. 293 



exceed this size, the tail especially being longer. If now we take the broad-winged 

 buzzard (B. pennsylvanicus)^ only sixteen inches long, wing eleven inches, and tail 

 seven, we have about the minimum. 



The type of the genus is the common buzzard (13. vulgaris), of Europe, now quite 

 scarce in Great Britain, and entirely confined, as a resident, to a few large wooded 

 tracts. In northern Africa and eastern Europe it is replaced by the smaller African 

 buzzard (B. desertorum), probably only a geographical variety of vulgaris. In Amer- 

 ica, too, a species (Swainson's buzzard, B. swainsoni), is recognized, which is very 

 near the European vulgaris, if not actually the same. Like some other North Amer- 1 

 icau Falconidse, it has a large range, occurring under one name or another from the 

 Arctic Ocean to Patagonia. Nearly all the species of this large genus are more or 

 less subject to melanism, a good example of a rather stable race of this kind being 

 the western form of the red-tailed hawk (23. borealis), known usually under the sub- 

 specific title" of cahtrus, a buzzard of very different appearance from the eastern type, 

 but specifically identical, as shown by the intermediate forms, which show every pos- 

 sible gradation. Such cases as these, coupled with the great differences due to age, 

 and the wide individual variations, have brought confusion little less than hopeless 

 into our lists. 



Although but one species of osprey (Pandion*) probably exists, yet its peculiari- 

 ties warrant its separation from the eagles, with which it has usually been associated, 

 and necessitate the formation of a sub-family (Pandioninae) for its reception. This 

 may be characterized as follows : Outer toe reversible, all the toes without basal webs ; 

 superciliary shield rudimentary ; tibia long, closely and evenly feathered ; plumage 

 without aftershafts. As there is but one genus, with a single species, the following 

 characters may be added without attempting to grade them : The bill is strong, tooth- 

 less, but with a very long, sharp hook ; the tarsus reticulate, feet very large, toes with 

 the under surface roughened by close-set papilla ; all the claws of the same length, 

 (unique among Falconidaa), long, much curved, and extremely sharp, not grooved 

 beneath, but smooth, and nearly round, the middle one channelled on the inside. 

 Feathers rather harsh and stiff ; wings long and pointed ; tail rather short. 



It is difficult to imagine a hawk or an eagle better fitted for its trade than is the 

 well-known fish-hawk or osprey. The plumage is such that the bird may remain 

 immersed for several seconds in the water without wetting the feathers, and the pow- 

 erful wings enable it to rise lightly after its plunge, and lift with ease the slippery 

 prey which is helpless in the grasp of the marvellously perfect feet. 



The osprey is found in almost all countries of the globe, but as yet it is not known 

 to occur in Iceland or New Zealand. It breeds, however, in such widely separated 

 places as Hudson's Bay and the Red Sea, Kamtschatka and Florida. The habits of 

 the bird seem to vary somewhat in different countries, and through persecution in 

 some places, or peculiarly favoi'able circumstances in others, the location of the nest 

 varies considerably. All along the Atlantic seaboard of the United States it breeds 

 abundantly ; and the nests, conspicuously placed on the tops of large, dead trees, are 

 visible from long distances, and where the species is abundant several nests may fre- 

 quently be seen from the same point. Indeed, instances are known of scores or 

 even hundreds of pairs nesting close together, and in organized communities. 



The European bird, on the contrary, is nowhere abundant, being usually met with 

 only singly or in pairs, and much more frequently about fresh water than along the 

 seashore. In Great Britain the bird is now rarely met with, except as a straggler, 



