BUTEO 511 



723. SUBSP. BUTEO DESERTORUM. 



Butco desertorum (Baud.), Traite d' Orn. ii. p. 162, (1800) ; Layard, 

 B. of S. Afr. p. 9 ; Shelley, B. of Egypt, p. 201 ; Dresser, v. p. 457, 

 pi. 832 ; Sharpe, Cat. B. Br. Mus. i. p. 179 ; Blanf. F. Brit. Ind. 

 Birds, iii. p. 393 (partim) ; B. cirtensis, Levaill jr. Expl. Sc. de 

 1'Alg. pi. 3. (1850) ; J5. menetriesi, Bogd. Ptitsui. Kavkaza, p. 45 

 (1879). 



Baffa, Arab. 



ad. (N. Africa). Differs from B. vulgaris in being as a rule smaller, 

 in having the feathers on the upper parts margined with rusty red, the tail 

 with a blackish brown subterminal band, the middle feathers rusty red 

 with obsolete bars, and the under parts pale rufous, most of the feathers 

 with dark centres. Culmen 1*4, wing 14'5, tail 8'2, tarsus 2'7 inch. The 

 female is similar but rather larger. The young bird resembles B. vulgaris 

 but is smaller, has the upper parts marked with rufous and the thigh- 

 feathers slightly marked with rufous. 



Hob. South-eastern Europe ; of accidental occurrence in 

 south-western Europe, but in eastern Europe as far north as 

 Archangel ; Africa south to the Cape Colony ; Asia as far east 

 as India where it is a winter visitant. 



In habits it resembles Buteo vulgaris, of which species it is 

 a rufous, desert form, and in fact Mr. Blanford (I.e.) unites the 

 two specifically, a course which I do not feel justified in 

 following. The African Buzzard is said to be a more graceful 

 and active bird than B. vulgaris and more of an insect feeder, 

 on the shores of the Bosphorus feeding chiefly on grasshoppers, 

 when in the autumn these latter abound. 



Its nest is placed in a tree at no great altitude, or else in a 

 convenient cleft in a rock and is constructed of sticks and 

 twigs, lined with grass and wool. The eggs, 2 to 3 in number, 

 are usually deposited in April, and resemble those of B. 

 vulgaris, but are, as a rule, less marked with reddish-brown 

 than those, and measure about 2 '08 by 1'65. 



724. UPLAND BUZZARD. 

 BUTEO LEUCOCEPHALUS. 



Buteo leucoccphalus (Hodgson), P.Z.S. 1845, p. 37 ; Blanf. F. Brit. Ind. 

 Birds, iii. p. 392 ; B. aquilinus, Blyth, J.A.S. Beng. xiv. p. 176 

 (1845) ; B. hemllasius, Temm. and Schlegel. Faun. Jap. Aves, 

 p. 18, pi. vii. (1850) ; Sharpe, Cat. B. Br. Mus. i. p. 182 ; David 

 and Oust. Ois. Chine, p. 19, pi. 9 ; (Tacz.) F. 0. Sib. 0. p. 60 ; 

 B. ferox, Sharpe, torn. cit. p. 178.pl. viii. (1874 partim, nee. Gmel.) 



