INTRODUCTION. 
\xxi 
Mr. J. H. Gurney assures me that it is an example of the species to which the above names have been 
assigned by the various autliors mentioned, that of desertonm having the precedence. The countries 
frequented by it are Algeria, Mogador, European Turkey, the mouths of the Volga, Syria, India, and Ceylon. 
Mr. Gurney considers that there is no specific difference between this bird and that which is named in 
collections Buteo cirtensu. He came to this conclusion after examining specimens from Mogador, Tangiers, 
Erzeroum, and the mouths of the Volga. It is included by Schlegel in his ‘ Fauna Japoiiica;’ so that it has 
a very wide 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, has moulted into a rich rufous 
plumage ; and one that was alive in the Zoological Gardens a few years since, underwent a similar change.” 
According to M. Favier, it nests among the rocks, and the male takes its turn in sitting. The egg has a 
strong resemblance to that of the Black Kite, but is a little more pointed, and the ground-colour a cream- 
w'hite, that of the former having a greenish tinge. 
Mr. Gurney states that “ the cere, tarsi, and feet of this Buzzard are lemon-yellow ; the irides are 
sometimes light-hazel, and at others yellow, probably assuming the latter colour as the bird advances in 
age; a similar variation, however, which exists in the irides of the Common Buzzard is not always referable 
to age, as I have ascertained by experience.” 
9. Buteo lineatus. 
Red-shouldered Buzzard. 
It becomes necessary to notice this species, a single example having been shot at Kingussie, in 
Aberdeenshire, on the 26th of February, 1863. It is now in the collection of Mr. Newcombe, of Feltwell 
Hall, Brandon, Norfolk. As this is a strictly North-American species, I do not consider it necessary to 
figure it; but such of my readers as may desire to know its history can refer to the writings of Wilson, 
Audubon, and other authors on American birds. 
Genus Archibuteo. 
10. Archibuteo lagopus ........... Vol. I. PI. VII. 
Rough-legged Buzzard. 
Arrives in the British Islands in autumn, occasionally in considerable numbers, when moving in 
