234 DIURNAL BIRDS OF PREY. 



America. It breeds in Southern Mexico, and thence to Brazil and Bolivia. Known 

 to the Spaniards as the king eagle, and to the Aztecs as the winged wolf, the harpy 

 attacks and kills animals of more than thrice its own size and weight. Turkeys, 

 fawns, foxes, badgers, peccaries, sloths, and monkeys alike fall victims to this fell 

 destroyer. In regions which it frequents the harpy may be seen sailing in the 

 early morning high up in the clear sky, or wheeling in circles over the forests ; 

 while from March to June the tree-tops resound with the loud cries of its young. 

 The nest, it is stated, may be situated either in a lofty tree or on the ledge of a clitf. 



The whole of the three genera above mentioned are characterised 

 by the shortness of the interval between the tips of the primary and 

 secondary quills, which is less than the length of the metatarsus. Three other 

 genera from South and Central America, viz. Urobitinga, Buteogallus, and 

 Busarellus, comprise much smaller buzzard-like birds, agreeing with the harpies 

 in the above-mentioned character, but differing by the absence of crests. The last 

 two genera have but a single sj^ecies each ; but there are several kinds of 

 urobitingas, two of which range northwards into the south of Mexico. 



" The buzzard," writes Gilbert White, " is a dastardly bird, and 

 beaten not only by the raven, but even by the carrion-crow " ; and 

 no better description could be given of the pusillanimous disposition of the birds 

 of the genus Buteo. The buzzards are the typical representatives of the subfamily 

 under consideration, and belong to that section in which the interval between the 

 tips of the primary and secondary quills equals or exceeds the length of the meta- 

 tarsus. They are specially characterised by the squared tail being of considerable 

 length, and extending markedly below the closed wings ; and also by the long 

 oval nostrils, devoid of any central tubercle, and the bare metatarsus. The beak 

 is rather small and weak ; the wings have the fourth quill the longest, and the first 

 four deeply notched on their inner margins ; the naked metatarsus is of moderate 

 length and covered with scales and scutes ; and the toes are short, with strong 

 claws. Buzzards are represented by nearly twenty species, and have an almost world- 

 wide distribution, although they are unknown in the Indian and Malayan regions, 

 as well as in Oceania and Australasia. The common buzzard (B. vvlgaris) is one of 

 the species of British hawks which has suffered the least from the persecution of 

 gamekeepers, and may still not unfrequently be seen in the wooded parts of the 

 country. It belongs to a large group of the genus in which the tail is marked by 

 more or less complete dark transverse bars, the number of such bars in this species 

 varying from ten to thirteen. The general eolour of the plumage is a clear dark 

 brown, becoming paler on the crown of the head and cheeks and nuicli darker on the 

 primary quills ; but there is such an extraordinary amount of individual variation 

 in respect of colour, that scarcely any two birds can be found which are precisely 

 alike. The under-parts are, however, generally yellowish white, with the feathers 

 more or less streaked with brown; but the flanks and thighs are of a more 

 uniformly brown hue. The under wing-coverts are also light coloured, and the 

 under tail-coverts white ; while the tail, which is brown above and greyish white 

 below, is barred on both aspects. Some buzzards are, however, brown all over ; 

 while in others, as in our figure, the throat and chest are brown, and as well as the 

 thighs, are as dark as the upper surface, only the remainder of the under-parts being 



