148 
Allen’s naturalist’s library. 
white; under surface of body yellowish-white; the breast, 
sides of body, and thighs more uniform brown, clouding the 
whole of these portions of the under-parts; primary-quills 
dark brown, externally shaded with ashy-grey, with distinct bars 
of darker brown, less plainly indicated on the secondaries, 
which are paler brown like the back, the inner webs of all the 
quills white for two-thirds of their length ; tail ashy-brown, 
with a rufous shade towards the tip, and crossed with twelve 
or thirteen bands of darker brown ; cere yellow ; bill bluish- 
black, darker towards the tip ; feet yellow; iris yellowish-brown. 
Total length, 22 inches; culmen, i'4S; wing, i5’o; tail, 9-0; 
tarsus, 3'i. 
Adult Female. — Similar to the male, and very little larger. 
Total length, 23 inches; wing, i6’5; tail, 9-5 ; tarsus, 3-1. 
Young Birds. — The young of the Common Buzzard is always 
much paler than the adults, and frequently has the head and 
under surface of the body creamy-white, with a few streaks and 
spots of brown. 
I consider all these light-coloured birds to be immature, 
though some ornithologists regard this pale plumage as indica- 
tive of albinism, and the darker forms to be melanistic. While 
admitting that Buzzards have a tendency to melanism, my ex- 
perience has been that the birds grow darker with age, and have 
fewer bars on the tail than when they are young. 
Range in Great Britain. — The Common Buzzard is by no means 
so plentiful in the British Islands as it used to be, owing to the 
ill-advised way in which it has been shot down by game-pre- 
servers. In Scotland and Wales, however, it is still to be found 
in the wilder districts, and in many parts of England specimens 
are obtained on migration : these are mostly young birds. In 
Ireland Mr. R. J. TJssher says that in Donegal, Londonderry, 
Antrim, and Down, where it was formerly recorded by Thomp- 
son as resident, it has now been nearly exterminated, and the 
bird is, therefore, as rare in its ancient habitat as it is in 
England. 
Range outside the British Islands. — Commonly distributed over 
the greater part of Western Europe, but its eastern range is by 
no means satisfactorily determined, as in Russia it appears to 
