46 
ROUGH-LEGGED BUZZARD. 
quills curved inwards, broadly obtuse. Tail longish, nearly even, the 
feathers rather broad, truncated and rounded. 
Bill bluish-black at the tip, blue towards the base ; cere and margin 
yellow. Iris hazel. Feet gamboge yellow ; claws brownish-black. The 
general colour of the upper parts is dark umber ; the forehead with a slight 
margin of whitish, the quills blackish-brown, the tail with three bands of 
dark-brown, alternating with two whitish bands, and a narrower terminal 
band of greyish, the tips white. Throat whitish ; cheeks reddish-brown, 
with a dark-brown mustachial band ; the under parts generally light- 
reddish, marked with guttiform umber spots along the neck, and sagitti- 
form larger spots of the same colour on the breast and sides. Tibial 
feathers of the same colour, with numerous smaller spots. 
Length 14 inches; extent of wings 32 ; bill 44 along the ridge, 14 along 
the gap. 
Adult Female. 
Colouring generally similar to that of the male, lighter above, more tinged 
with red beneath, where the spots are larger and more irregular. 
Length 16 inches ; extent of wings 35 ; bill 1 along the ridge, 1J along 
the gap. 
ROUGH-LEGGED BUZZARD. 
Buteo lagopus, Gmel. 
PLATE XI. 
The Rough-legged Hawk seldom goes farther south along our Atlantic 
coast than the eastern portions of North Carolina, nor have I ever seen it to 
the west of the Alleghanies. It is a sluggish bird, and confines itself to the 
meadows and low grounds bordering the rivers and salt-marshes, along our 
bays and inlets. In such places you may see it perched on a stake, where it 
remains for hours at a time, unless some wounded bird comes in sight, when 
it sails after it, and secures it without manifesting much swiftness of flight. 
It feeds principally on moles, mice, and other small quadrupeds, and never 
attacks a duck on the wing, although now and then it pursues a wounded one. 
When not alarmed, it usually flics low and sedately, and does not exhibit 
any of the courage and vigour so conspicuous in most other Hawks, suffering 
