RED-BACKED BUZZARD 47 



RED-BACKED BUZZARD 



Bttteo erythronotus 



Above slatey blue ; wing feathers slatey with narrow black bars ; 

 upper tail-coverts and tail white, the latter crossed with narrow 

 grey bars and broad black band; beneath white; bill dark horn- 

 colour ; feet yellow ; length 33, wing 18.5 inches. Female similar, 

 but back deep chestnut. 



This is a fine bird — ^thc king of South-American 

 Bu^^ards. In the adult female the three colours of 

 the plumage are strongly contrasted ; the back being 

 rusty rufous, the rest of the upper parts grey, the 

 whole under surface ptire white. It is occasionally 

 met with in the northern provinces of the Argentine 

 Republic, but is most common in Patagonia ; and 

 it has been said that in that region it takes the place 

 of the nearly allied Buteo albicaudatus of Brazil. In 

 habits, however, the two species are as different as 

 it is possible for two Raptores to be ; for while the 

 northern bird has a cowardly spirit, is, to some 

 extent, gregarious, and feeds largely on insects, the 

 Patagonian species has the preying habits of the 

 Eagle and lives exclusively, I believe, or nearly so, 

 on cavies and other small mammals. When Captain 

 King first discovered it in 1827, he described it as 

 " a small beautiful Eagle." In Patagonia it is very 

 abundant, and usually seen perched on the summit 

 of a bush, its broad snowy-white bosom conspicuous 

 to the eye at a great distance — one of the most 

 familiar features in the monotonous landscape of 



