154 TlMEHRI. 
in the air, and out of range. Their colouring is a very 
distinctive one, the whole body being regularly barred 
with a glossy blue and grey, or blue and white, the 
throat being pure white ; while the quills of the wings 
are broadly black-tipped and narrowly barred with 
black ; and the tail white-tipped, and barred with two 
white bands. In the young, brown and white tints 
predominate, the white being blotched or streaked with 
brown. 
Three species of red or reddish-brown buzzards are of 
very common occurrence about the outskirts of the town, 
the estates, and the coasts districts generally. These are 
large birds, ranging from 18-24 inches in length 
according to the species and the sex. They well 
illustrate the difficulties that may beset the beginner in 
ornithological study, or one quite ignorant, in the 
recognition and identification of the species. Being 
large birds, of much the same tint of red and brown, 
with darker black quills and tail, they present much 
about the same character to the uninitiated, though 
indeed they differ considerably from each other. 
In the commonest of these, the black-necked or white- 
headed buzzard or " crab-hawk " (Busarellus nigri- 
collis), the size ranges from 18-22 inches according to 
the sex. The colour, almost throughout, is of a clear rusty- 
red, with black shaft stripes on the top and on the shorter 
quills of the wing, which are also black-tipped ; the head 
and throat are creamy white with black shaft-stripes; 
the neck is marked with a large black cross patch ; the main 
quills of the wings are black, and the tail black at its upper 
half and narrowly barred at its base. The primary quills 
of the wings are only slightly longer than the second- 
