THE COMMON BUZZARD. 141 



Food. — In its native haunts chiefly lemmings, Ptarmigan and fell 

 mice ; occasionally Arctic hare and small birds such as Snow- 

 Bunting and Wagtail. In British Isles chiefly rabbits ; often 

 also brown rat, and occasionally water-rat or field-voles. Mole, 

 stoat, shrew, Pheasant (once) and small birds, such as Chaffinch, 

 also recorded. 



Distribution. — Great Britain. — Irregular winter- visitor (Oct., 

 rarely earlier, to March, April, and even May (once June)), occurring 

 most years east coast Scotland and England as far south as Norfolk, 

 and at intervals in considerable numbers, as in winters 1875-6, 

 1880-1, 1891-2, 1903-4, 1915-16. Also fairly frequent along Pennine 

 Chain, rarer in south-east England, and only occasional vagrant 

 elsewhere, being especially rare on west side. In O. Hebrides 

 twice. Ireland. — Seventeen, most frequently in Ulster. 

 Distribution. — Abroad. — North Europe and north Asia, said to 

 nest very exceptionally as far south as Germany. In winter vagrant 

 and partially migrant, now and then reaching Pyrenees, Mediter- 

 ranean regions, Caspian and Black Sea. Replaced by other sub- 

 species in North America and Siberia. 



BUTEO BUTEO 



255. Buteo buteo buteo (L.)— THE COMMON BUZZARD. 



Falco Buteo Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., ed. x, i, p. 90 (1758 — Europe. 



Restricted typical locality : Sweden*). 



Buteo vulgaris Leach, Yarrell, 1, p. 109 ; Saunders, p. 321. 



Description (Plate 4). — Adult male and female. Winter and 

 summer. — Varying greatly individually. Whole upper-parts dark 

 brown, some feathers usually with rusty-brown edges, feathers of 

 back of crown and nape with white bases usually showing and 

 giving streaked appearance, mantle and scapulars with a more or 

 less strong purple gloss, scapulars barred greyish-brown and white 

 od basal portions, upper tail-coverts tipped rufous and usually 

 barred with rufous and at base with white ; feathers of lores 

 bristle-like, black with short white tufts at base ; ear-coverts and 

 sides of neck dark brown more or less streaked pale brown or 

 whitish often with rufous ; chin and throat as ear-coverts but 

 often with more white and sometimes white with narrow dark 

 brown shaft-streaks ; rest of under-parts varying greatly ; breast 

 (a) dark brown with varying amount of rufous and white edgings 

 and spots or partial bars (b) white or creamy-white, feathers with 

 wide dark brown stripes ; across middle of lower-breast usuallv 



* Linnaeus took his diagnosis almost word for word, with slight alterations, 

 from Fauna Svecica, No. 65, where he has also the same quotations, i.e. 

 Gesner, Willughby and Ray. Therefore we must accept the fixation of 

 Sweden as terra typica by Hellmayr and Laubmann, Nomenclator der 

 Vdgel Bayerns, 1916. The quotation of " Savoy" in B.O.U. List, 1915, 

 cannot be accepted, as Linnaeus's authors quoted did not mention Savoy. 

 Linnaeus forgot to quote his own Fauna Svecica 65, but this is obvious. — E.H. 



