326 MOOR BUZZARD. 



MITTY.— A name for the Petrel. 

 MOCK BIRD.—* A name applied to the Sedge Bird. 

 MOCK NIGHTINGALE. — * A name sometimes given to the 

 Blackcap, and sometimes to the Fauvette.* 

 MONCK.— A name for the Bullfinch. 

 MOOR BUZZARD (Circus ceruginosus, Aldrovand.) 



ADULT. 



*Falco rufus, Lath. Ind. Orn. 1. p. 25. 51.— Gmel. Syst. 1. p. 266. 77 Circus 



aeruginosus, Vigors, Zool. Jour. 1. p. 339. — Circus rufus, Briss. Orn. 1. p. 404. 

 — Circus palustris, Briss. 1. p. 401. — Buteo aeruginosus, Flem. Br. Anim. p. 55. 

 — La Harpaye, Buff. Ois. 1. p. 217.— Ib. pi. Enl. 460. — Busard Harpaye, ou de 

 marais, 7emm.Man.d'Orn. 1. p. 69. 2nd edit. — Brandweihe, Bechst. Tasschenb. 

 Deut. p. 24. sp. 19. — Harpy Falcon, Lath. Syn. 1. p. 51. 



YOUNG. 



Falco aeruginosus, Linn. Syst. 1. p. 130. — Fauna Suec, No. 66. — Gmel. Syst. l.p. 

 267.~Lath. Ind. Orn. 1. p. 25. 53.—Raii, Syn. p. 17. A. 4.—Muller, No. 69. 

 — Falco arundinaceus, Bechst. Naturg. Deut. 1. p. 681. 19. — Le Busard de ma- 

 rais, Buff. Ois. 1. p. 218 Ib. pi. Enl. 424. a yearling bird. — Sumpfweihe, 



Meyer, Tasschenb. Deut. 1. p. 43.— Moor Buzzard, Br. Zool. 1. No. 57. t. 27. 

 Ib. fol. p. 67. t. A. 5 — Arct. Zool. 2. p. 225. L. — Lath. Syn. 1. p. 54. — Ib. 

 Supp. 15. — Mont. Orn. Diet. 2. — Will. (Angl.) p. 75. t. 7. — Lewins Br. 



Birds, 1. t. 8 Wale. Syn. 1. t. 8. — Pult. Cat. Dorset, p. 3 Bewick's Br. 



Birds, 1. p. 19.— Selby, pi. 9. p. 24. 



Provincial. — Duck Hawk. White-headed Harpy. Moor Buzzard.* 



The specimen now before us of this species of falcon, is a female ; 



its weight twenty-eight ounces and a half ; length twenty-three inches 



and a half ; bill black ; cere and irides yellow. The whole plumage 



is of a chocolate brown, tinged more or less with ferruginous ; the 



crown of the head is of a dull yellow; legs long and yellow; claws 



black. The male is somewhat less, weighing about twenty-one ounces ; 



length twenty-one inches ; plumage the same, but generally brighter 



in colour. 



These birds are subject to some variety in markings : sometimes the 

 crown of the head is white ; others have the whole head white, or 

 yellowish ; the shoulders are said to be sometimes yellow; and we 

 have seen a specimen with the head, part of the wing coverts, and the 

 four first quill-feathers, white. These markings are considered as mere 

 varieties, as some are said to be found wholly of a chocolate-brown : 

 such, however, are by no means so common as those with a yellow 

 crown, or of various shades of that colour to white. In more than 

 twenty specimens we have examined, this was the constant mark, 

 except as above described. 



This species appears to be local, mostly frequenting swampy moors 

 and barren situations ; and though rarely met with in the more culti- 

 vated parts, it is the most common of the falcon tribe about the 

 sandy fiats on the coast of Caermarthenshire, where they prey upon 



