FALCONID^E. 47 



[14.] 1. Buteo vulgaris. Common Buzzard. 



Genus. Buteo. Bechstein. 



Plain Falcon. Penn. Arct. Zool., ii., p. 207, No. 103. ? Young female ? 



Falco obsoletus. Lath. Ind., i., p. 28, sp. 61. ? 



Plate xxvii. Male. 



The Common Buzzard arriving in the fur countries in the middle of April, very 

 soon afterwards begins to build its nest, and, having reared its young, departs 

 about the end of September. It haunts the low alluvial points of land which 

 stretch out under the high banks of a river, and may be observed sitting for a 

 long time motionless on the bough of a tree, watching patiently for some small 

 quadruped, bird, or reptile to pass within its reach. As soon as it espies its prey, 

 it glides silently into the air, and, sweeping easily but rapidly down, seizes it in 

 its claws. When disturbed, it makes a short circuit, and soon settles on another 

 perch. One of our specimens had two middle-sized toads in its crop. It builds its 

 nest on a tree, of short sticks, lining it sparingly with deer's hair. The eggs, 

 from three to five in number, are equal in size to those of the domestic fowl, and 

 have a greenish-white colour, with a few large dark-brown blotches at the thick 

 end. The Common Buzzard is not mentioned by Wilson or Bonaparte as a North 

 American bird. It was seen by the Expedition as far north as the fifty-seventh 

 parallel of latitude, and it most probably has a still higher range. Pennant * 

 states it to be an inhabitant of New York, Newfoundland, and Hudson's Bay ; 

 but as he refers to the Ash-coloured Buzzard of Edwards as a representation of 

 his bird, it is probable that he had not seen an American specimen of the Common 

 Buzzard. The toothed bill, round nostrils, tarsi half reticulated half feathered, 

 general appearance, and the circumstance of its preying on the Willow Grouse, 

 all point out Edwards's bird to be the Falco Islandkus, under which we have 

 quoted it. — R. 



The minor groups referred by ornithologists to this division of the family, have 

 not hitherto been investigated ; it would, therefore, be hazardous to offer any 

 decisive opinion as to the type. In the subject of this article, the most common 



* Arct. Zool, ii., p. 207, No. 103. 



