THE ROUGH-LEGGED BUZZARD. 



Buteo lagopus (J. F. Gmelin). 

 Plate 31. 



This species, easily distinguished from the Common Buzzard by its feathered 

 tarsus, and in the adult by the creamy-white on the head, and lighter tail, is a 

 more or less regular autumnal and winter visitor to Great Britain, mostly to the 

 eastern parts, where numbers of immature birds have sometimes been observed. 

 It has never been known to breed in the British Islands, the accounts of its 

 having done so being unreliable, but it nests in Northern Europe and Asia, whence 

 it wanders southwards in autumn. 



The nest, placed in a tree or ledge of rock, is built of sticks and twigs, some- 

 times with some lichen added, and contains from three to five eggs, which though 

 subject to some variation in colour, are similar to the Common Buzzard's. 



In our country the Rough-legged Buzzard is partial to open country, especially 

 warrens and wastes overrun with rabbits, on which it preys, as well as on mice, 

 reptiles, wildfowl, and other birds. 



During the breeding season it is said to utter a plaintive wailing note, likened 

 to the mewing of a cat. 



THE SPOTTED EAGLE. 

 Aquila maculata (J. F. Gmelin). 

 Plate 31. 



Some eight or nine examples of this Eagle have occurred in England, three 

 of these having been shot in the autumn of 1891 in Suffolk and Essex, while two 

 others have been obtained in Ireland. 



Naturalists have distinguished two distinct races of this species, one consider- 

 ably larger than the other, and, according to Howard Saunders, those visiting the 

 British Islands have been " chiefly — if not entirely " — the larger. The two forms 

 have a wide distribution over Europe, North Africa, Western Asia, China, and 

 India. 



The Spotted Eagle builds its nest, which is large and very flat, high up on 

 big trees, and generally lays two eggs, in colour dull white, streaked or spotted 

 with brownish-red. 



It appears to live chiefly on reptiles, small mammals, and water-birds, and 

 utters a shrill cry. 



Immature examples of the larger race seem for the most part to be those which 

 have reached our coasts, and I have therefore given a picture of one of these, 

 which vary somewhat in colour. When fully adult, the colour becomes a paler 

 brown, with only a few small spots on the lesser wing-coverts. 



II. 49 G 



