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the autumn they remain some time on the shores of the Black Sea and Bosphorus. Flocks of 

 these Buzzards are then to be seen from sunrise to sunset, continually occupied in clearing both 

 the water and the land from these grasshoppers ; but we have never noticed the common Buzzard 

 take to this prey, although the latter species is common in the same districts and at the season 

 when the grasshoppers arrive. This predilection of the Desert-Buzzard for a prey disdained by 

 the common Buzzard, seems to us to warrant the separation of the two species. It is true that 

 both are so variable in their plumage that it is difficult to form a diagnosis upon skins ; yet we 

 observe characteristics which we will not exactly call constant, but general, in the Desert- 

 Buzzard, such as the smaller size, and the rust-coloured thighs — differences, however, which are 

 more marked in the living bird, and especially in a state of liberty. Whilst the common 

 Buzzard, with its heavy frame, waits with indolence for hours at a time for the passage of its 

 prey, or seeks for it carelessly with a uniform and rectilinear flight, the Desert-Buzzard, with its 

 more elegant body and longer limbs, hunts in evolutions almost resembling those of the Kite or 

 the Swallow ; in fact, the experienced sportsman can always distinguish the two species on the 

 wing, 



" We have kept a caged albino variety, which had been slightly wounded. From the first 

 it was much less wild than other individuals of this species, and has always retained this 

 characteristic. 



" It nests in the forest of Belgrade, near Constantinople, generally in the midst of thick 

 underwood, making a nearly flat nest, about three or four yards from the ground. We captured 

 a female on the 8th June, 1865, the nest containing three young, from five to eight days old." 



I possess one egg of this Buzzard, taken in Algeria, which resembles those of the common 

 Buzzard, but is somewhat smaller than the general average, and much less spotted than most 

 eggs of Buteo vulgaris which I have seen ; indeed this, as well as all other authentic eggs of this 

 species seen by me, is remarkably devoid of blotches and has, like eggs of the Kite, only short 

 dark reddish lines scattered sparingly over the surface of the shell. 



The specimens figured are an old male from Tangier and a young bird from South Africa, 

 these being the birds described, both of which are in my collection. 



In the preparation of the above article I have examined the following specimens : — 



E Mus. H. E. Dresser. 



a, 3 . Majmacza, near Archangel, September 4th, 1873 (Piottuch). b, 3 . Ortakeuy hills, near Constantinople, 

 April 9th, 1864 (T. Robson). c, 3. Tangier (Olcese). d, e,f. George, South Africa (W. Atmore). 



E Mus. Howard Saunders, 

 a, 3. Near Seville, October 1868. b, $. Tangier, February 1871. 



