98 AFRICAN BUZZARD. } | 
ence between this bird and that which is named in 
collections Buteo cirtensis, from North Africa. Mr. | 
Gurney came to this conclusion after carefully examining 
a dozen specimens from the Cape of Good Hope, 
Mogadore, Tangiers, Erzeroum, and the mouths of the 
Volga. 
Falco tachardus is a native of South Africa, where 
it was discovered by Le Vaillant, during his travels 
there in the latter part of the last century. He only 
obtained one specimen, which is figured in his work. | 
It is included by Schlegel in his Fauna Japonica, but 
I am not aware of its having been noticed as occurring 
in North Africa before, which makes Mr. Gurney’s 
discovery of its identity with B. cirtensis the more 
interesting. 
Nepal is the most eastern locality in which Mr. 
Gurney has known it to occur, but if Prince Charles 
Bonaparte and Dr. Gray are right in referring Schlegel’s 
B. capensis of Japan to this species, it would appear 
to have a much more extensive range. 
“The appearance of this bird when alive,” 
says Mr. 
Gurney, “is less heavy and more elegant than that of 
B. vulgaris. My living specimen, which was dull 
brown when I bought it, a year ago, has moulted into 
a rich rufous plumage, and one that was alive in the 
Zoological Gardens a few years ago, underwent a similar 
change.” i 
According to M. Favier, F. tachardus nests among 
the rocks, and the male takes its turn in sitting. 
I have much pleasure in giving a drawing of one of 
the eggs sent by M. Favier. It has a strong resemblance 
to the egg of the Black Kite, but it is a little more 
pointed, and the ground colour a cream white, that of 
the former having a greenish tinge. I have to thank 
