458 



almost all the feathers margined with rusty red ; quills blackish brown on the outer web and terminal 

 portion, but on the inner web, above the margination, white on the outer and basal portion slightly 

 washed with rufous, and near the shaft greyish brown with broad dark bars extending over half the 

 web ; rump dull earth-brown, the feathers having lighter edges ; the two central rectrices rusty red, with 

 obsolete dark bars and a broad subterminal blackish brown band, remaining rectrices light greyish 

 earth-brown on the outer web, and on the inner web near the shaft with greyish brown bars extending 

 over half the web, the rest being dull buff — the under surface of the tail, when closed, being buffy 

 white, with very obsolete markings ; lower throat, under surface of the body, thigh-feathers, and under 

 wing-coverts pale rufous, most of the feathers with darker central markings, and here and there the 

 white basal portions of the feathers showing through ; feathers on the lower abdomen and under tail- 

 coverts edged or tipped with white, some being almost entirely white ; bill bluish horn ; iris reddish 

 brown; legs and cere yellow; claws dark horn. Total length about 19 inches, culmen l - 4, wing 14'5, 

 tail 8'2, tarsus 2 7. 



Young (South Africa). Resembles the ordinary dark form of Buteo vulgaris, but is much smaller in size, 

 has the upper parts slightly intermixed with rufous ; the tail and upper tail-coverts are washed with 

 rufous, and the underparts are much whiter and less marked with blackish brown ; the thigh-feathers 

 are slightly washed with rufous. A specimen from near Constantinople, however, has the entire breast 

 dark brown with lighter markings. 



Obs. Although in the adult plumage this species is easily distinguishable from the common Buzzard, yet 

 in the immature dress they resemble each other very closely, but may almost always be readily distin- 

 guished by the much smaller size of the African Buzzard, which latter has generally a good deal of 

 rufous in the plumage, the thigh-feathers being always washed with rufous, and usually the tail also. 

 As regards the size, my series of five males vary as follows — culmen 1-3-1 '4, wing 13 - l-14 - 5, tail 

 7'8-8'2, tarsus 2 - 6-2 - 72, — the sixth, a female from South Africa, measuring — culmen T5, wing 15 - 0, 

 tail 8 - 5, tarsus 2 - 8. The specimen from Archangel is one of the smaller ones, as it measures only — 

 culmen T3, wing 13'5, tail 8 - 0, tarsus 2'6. Mr. Saunders's Spanish specimen, a male, about which I 

 have some slight doubts, although both Mr. J. H. Gurney and Mr. Swinhoe pronounce it to be 

 B. desertorum, measures — culmen 1*5, wing 14 - 0, tail 8 - 5, tarsus 2'8. In plumage it agrees tolerably 

 closely with specimens from South Africa, but is not quite so rufous. On comparing it with my series 

 of Buteo vulgaris, I think that the balance is in favour of its being B. desertorum, and have included 

 it as such. 



This small Buzzard inhabits South-eastern Europe, Africa, and India, being but rarely met with 

 elsewhere in Europe, except, as above stated, in the south-eastern portion. It may, however, 

 have been overlooked in some localities, and mistaken for the common Buzzard. It has been 

 recorded from Thuringia, in Germany, by Kammerherr Otto von Krieger, who writes (J. f. O. 

 1873, p. 293) that he has on three occasions shot it when watching to shoot birds of prey, which 

 are attracted by an Owl which is fastened within a short distance of the hiding-place for that 

 purpose — the so-called " Krahenhutte-Jagd." The first was shot on the 18th September 1869, 

 the second on the 19th September 1870, and the third on the 20th September 1871, all at 

 Sondershausen. It does not appear to have been met with elsewhere in Northern or Central 

 Europe, except in Archangel ; and a specimen was obtained in Spain by Mr. Howard Saunders, 

 who writes (Ibis, 1871, p. 63) that it was decided by Mr. J. H. Gurney to be a young male of 

 this species. Mr. Gurney also writes (Ibis, 1870, p. 266) that he saw in the Museum at Lille 



