BIRDS OP PREY. BUZZARDS. 
315 
buzzards not only represent those nocturnal birds, but 
actually unite them with the true falcons. In con- 
formity with these double affinities we find that the tip 
of the bill of the harriers is lengthened and very acute, 
while the festoon of the upper mandible is either en- 
tirely wanting, or is so faintly indicated that it can 
hardly be perceived. The legs of these birds are remark- 
ably long, and more resemble those of the sparrow- 
hawks than of any other group; but they have that 
remarkable character, so prevalent among the aberrant 
FalcmiiUe, of a very short hind toe, of which the clarv 
occupies one half of the total length. The hind toe, 
consequently, is not slightly, but very conspicuously, 
shorter than either of the two lateral ones. Such is, like- 
wise, the casein the rough-legged buzzard (^Buteo lagopttx ) 
{fig. 108.), which agrees with Circus in its short feeble 
bill, in its slender body, long 
wings, and lengthened tail, but 
differs in being without the se- 
micircular ruff round the ear, 
and in having the legs feathered 
down to the toes. Such are the 
most prominent characters which 
we view as typical of the genus 
before us. The common buz- 
zard, usually taken as the ty[)e 
, of this division, has some of the 
' leading peculiarities of B. lago- 
pus, joined with others of a 
more ambiguous character. 1 ts 
feet, for instance, although somewhat short, are remark- 
ably robust, and but for the shortness of the hind toe, 
might be taken for those of an Aster. Ihe wings, 
however, are very long, the tarsi,^ althoug no 
booted, are feathered nearly half way ; so that, in le 
present state of our acquaintance with this group, we 
may leave this and one or two similarly forme species 
in the same subgenus as Buteo lugopus. In regari , 
• Northern Zoology, ii. pi. 28. 
