FALC0NID2E — BUTEONIN^ : BUZZARDS. 549 



a small but stout Buleo, witli auipli; wiugs and tail, very fliffereut from any of the foregoing, 

 and easily recognized by its size and proportions, aside from color. A large 9 resembles a 

 b'mall (J B. Uneatus in some respects, but the difiereuee is too great to require detailed com- 

 jiarison. Nesting noM'ise peculiar ; eggs 3-5, 2.01) X l-''0, heavily marked. 

 883, 883 B. brachyu'rus. (Gr. /SpaxiJ!-, ''»'"c/s?'-'>', sliort ; oupa, ')/(/■((, tail.). FuLlOlNfiu.'i lirzz.4r:r). 

 liesenibling B. ahhreviatiis in being blackish or fuligiiinas all over, but entirely anotlier bird, 

 belonging to a different section of the genus. Only three priuiaricH are abruptly emarginate on 

 th(^ inner web, though the next one is sinuate. Adult 9? Ccdor fuliginous, or dark umber- 

 browu, nearly uuiforni, but barred on the under wing- and tail-coverts witli white, and the 

 feathers of the hind head and nape ileecy-white at base ; tlie culor blackening on the expnsed 

 sm-faces of the prunarics, the inner webs of which are extensively whitened, with tlie usual 

 dark bars; little white, however, on the secondaries, exceiitiug the inner ones, most of thciii 

 being simply spaced gray or light brown betwe<'n their dark bars. Tail-pattern as usual in 

 yotmg hawks of this genus, there being numerous (6 or 8 exposed) blackish and lighter grayish 

 bars alternating, the subtermiual one of each broadest, the whole tail tipped with grayisli- 

 white; the inner webs of all the feathers excepting the central pair whitening in the spaces 

 between the dark bars. Length 16.00; winglS.OO; tail 7-00; tarsus 2.00. (Dcscrilied from 

 No. 12,117, Mus. Smiths. Inst., from Mazatlan, Mex., agreeing with B. ftdU/inosits Sch, P. Z. S., 

 1858, p. 35G; Tr. Z. S., 1858, p. 267, pi. Ixii ; a bird supposed to be the i/oiiiiti of th(^ same 

 is B. oxypterus, Cass., Pr. Phila. Acad., 1855, p. 283; both are treated as a variety of Ji. 

 stvainsoni by Ridgway, Hist. N. A. B., iii, 1874, p. 266 ; but are now supposed to be nielanistic 

 adult, and young, of a good species, probably B. hrachi/uiiis A'ieill., which ncnmally has the 

 face and most under parts white.) Mexican border, Florida, and soutlni-ard. 

 18] . ARCHIBU'TEO. (Lat. archi-, from Gr. apxos, aixhos, a leader, chief; l/iiteo, a buzzard.) 

 ilARE-roOTED BuzzAEDS. Chars. of Buteo pmper, but tarsi feathered in front to the toes, 

 naked and reticulate along a strip behind. Wings very long; 3d and 4th quills longest; 1st 

 shorter than 7th; 4 or 5 emarginate on inner webs. A small group, well marked by the char- 

 acter of the feet. The species are among the largest of tlie buzzard-hawks, but are rather dull 

 heavy birds, preying upon humble quarry, especially small quadrupeds, reptiles, and insects. 



AnabjsU of Speciea 



Below, white, variously ilarls-marked, and ■ fteii with a broad black abdominal zone, but generally no 



ferruginous ; in melanotic state, whole plumage nearly uniform blackish. . lagopris mncti-joliannis B25 



Below, pure white, scarcely or not marked, e.icepting that the legs are rich rufous with black bars 

 in marked contrast; above, varied with dark brown, chestnut and white; quills brown, with much 

 white ; tail silvery-ash and white, clouded with brown or rufous ferruglncas 526 



525. A. lago'pus sancti-johan'nis. (Gr. \ayonTovs, lagopous, hare-footed ; Lat. sancti-johannis , 

 of St. John, Newfoimdland. Fig. 382.) American Eour,H-LEf;GED Buzzard. "Black 

 Hawk." Adult <J ?: Too variable in plumage to be concisely described. In general, the 

 whole plumage with dark brown or blackish and light brown, gray, or whitish, the lighter 

 colors edging or bamng the individual feathers ; tendency to excess of the wliitish on the head, 

 and to the formation of a dark abdominal zone or area which may or may not include the tibia- ; 

 usually a blackish anteorbital and maxillary area. Lining of wings extensively blackish. Tail 

 usually white from the base for some distance, then with dark and light barring. The inner 

 webs of the flight-feathers extensively white fr<nn the base, usually with little'if any of the 

 dark barring so prevalent among bute(jnine hawks. From such a light and variegated plum- 

 age as this, the bird varies to more or less nearly uniform Vdackish, in which case the tail is 

 usually barred several times with white. Our lighter-colored birds are not fairly separable 

 from the normal European A. lagojnts ; but our birds average darker, and their frequent mel- 

 anism does not appear to befall the European stock. But in any plumage the rough-leg is 

 known at a glance from any Buteo by the feathered shanks ; while tlie peculiar coloration of 



