71 



*tl37. Buteo buteo buteo (Linn.) S.N. ed. X. i. p. 90 

 (1758). [Europe = Savoy, ex. Gesner.] 

 Common Buzzard. 



First 4 primaries notched (all notches usual- 

 ly recurved) ; wing 3 375-380 ; tail 222- 

 228, tarsus 79 mm. ; ? wing 385-410 mm. ; 

 plumage variable ; adult in breeding plum- 

 age {Brit. Isles) brown to dark brown above, 

 sometimes with rusty edges to scapulars ; 

 lower parts whitish, heavily blotched on 

 breast and barred on belly with dark brown 

 (occasionally rufous brown), the upper 

 breast, flanks and thighs nearly uniform ; 

 tail with 12 or 13 darker bars, the sub- 

 terminal one broad I ; a sooty-brown phase, 

 also a " white " variety are met with. 



W., N. and C. 

 Europe, S. to 

 Spain and Italy, 

 N. to Brit. Isles, 

 Sweden, W. 

 Finland and 

 Esthonia, E. to 

 Germany, 

 Poland, 

 Carpathians, 

 Greece and 

 W. Asia Minor. 



137a. Buteo buteo arrigonii Picchi, Avicula, vii., Sardinia, 

 p. 40 (1903). {Sardinia.^ Corsica. 



Sardinian Buzzard. 



Smaller insular race ; wing ^ 346-50, ? 380 

 mm. ; darker and more rufous ; more 

 heavily marked below ; tail tinged rufous. 



137b. Buteo buteo harterti Swann, Syn. List Accip. 

 p. 43 (1919). [Madeira, tjqje in Tring 

 Mus.] 

 Madeiran Buzzard. 



Madeira. 



Wing (? 392-405, ? 41 1-430 mm. ; large and 

 dark insular race ; more similar to B. v. 

 intermedius than to jB. b. buteo in plumage ; 

 darker than latter generally is and nearly 



I Adults among the Buzzards usually have the tail much less numerously 

 barred than is the case with young birds and often have a broad sub-terminal 

 band, lacking in young birds ; the latter also have the under parts of the body 

 as a rule lighter, often with the arrow-head, circular or elongated dark markings 

 characteristic of the young birds of other groups of the Accipitres, and have only 

 first 3 primaries notched in some cases. Individuals of all the species of Buteo 

 vary greatly in plumage. 



