COMMON BUZZARD. 
205 
America it seems more sparingly distributed, and 
chiefly in the northern parts ; it was met with by 
Dr Richardson so high as the fifty-seventh degree.* 
We possess a specimen from Madeira, for which 
we are indebted to the attention of W. T. Car- 
ruthers of Dormont, but we have been unable to 
trace its range to any part of the African conti- 
nent, of which the Madeiras may be considered 
as partly the suburbs, and where, in this direc- 
tion, we commence to see a mixture of African 
and European forms. 
The Common Buzzard varies considerably in 
the colouring of the plumage, scarcely two speci- 
mens being similar. The differences consist 
chiefly in the intensity of the tint of the upper 
parts, and in the presence of a greater or lesser 
degree of marking below. The general colour 
above is some shade of umber brown, varying to 
hair brown, and brocoli brown ; the feathers 
darker in the centre, often edged with a paler 
tint, or with reddish yellow, and generally glossed 
with a rich and shining purple, which is most 
prevalent in dark coloured specimens. Wings at 
the tips are deep umber brown, shading into pure 
white at the base, where the feather becomes soft 
and downy ; they are crossed with irregular 
clouded dark bars, which decrease in breadth and 
Richardson Faun. Bor. Am. 
