﻿BIRDS OP PREY. BUZZARDS. 



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buzzards not only represent those nocturnal birds, but 

 actually unite them with the true falcons. In con- 

 formity with these double affinities we find that the tip 

 of the bill of the harriers is lengthened and very acute, 

 while the festoon of the upper mandible is either en- 

 tirely wanting, or is so faintly indicated that it can 

 hardly be perceived. The legs of these birds are remark- 

 ably long, and more resemble those of the sparrow- 

 hawks than of any other group ; but they have that 

 remarkable character, so prevalent among the aberrant 

 Falconidee, of a very short hind toe, of which the claw 

 occupies one half of the total length. The hind toe, 

 consequently, is not slightly, but very conspicuously, 

 shorter than either of the two lateral ones. Such is, like- 

 wise, the casein the rough-legged buzzard (Buteolagopus*) 

 (fig. 108.), which agrees with Circus in its short feeble 

 bill, in its slender body, long 

 wings, and lengthened tail, but 

 differs in being without the se- 

 micircular ruff round the ear, 

 and in having the legs feathered 

 down to the toes. Such are the 

 most prominent characters which 

 we view as typical of the genus 

 before us. The common buz- 

 zard, usually taken as the type 

 of this division, has some of the 

 leading peculiarities of B. lago- 

 pus, joined with others of a 

 more ambiguous character. Its 

 feet, for instance, although somewhat short, are remark- 

 ably robust, and but for the shortness of the hind toe, 

 might be taken for those of an Aster. The wings, 

 however, are very long, and the tarsi, although not 

 booted, are feathered nearly half way ; so that, in the 

 present state of our acquaintance with this group, we 

 may leave this and one or two similarly formed species 

 in the same subgenus as Buteo lagopus. In regard, 



* Northern Zoology, ii. pi. 28. 



