94 Mr. E. Du Cane Godman on the Birds of the Azores . 
Brown, of St. Michael’s, who kindly preserved it for me. It is 
not a resident in the Azores, though in Madeira Mr. Vernon- 
Harcourt says it is very common*. 
Buteo vulgaris, Bechstein. u Milhavre.” 
Very common in the eastern and central groups, but scarcely 
ever seen in Elores or Corvo. I found a pair building in a cliff 
near the sea on the 22ncl of March, in St. Michael’s, and shot both 
the old birds. Mr. Gurney, who has kindly examined them for 
me, says that they are unusually rufous on the under parts of 
the body, and that they consequently bear a considerable resem¬ 
blance to the immature dress of the ordinary Buzzard of Bar- 
%/ 
bary, Buteo desertorum (Daudin). In size, however, they agree 
with B. vulgaris, which is rather the larger bird of the two. In 
the Azores Buzzards are by no means shy, and may constantly 
be seen hovering over the towns or perching in the orange-gar¬ 
dens. They feed chiefly on young rabbits, rats, and mice, of 
which there is a great abundance. It is from this bird the is¬ 
lands take the name of Azoresf. 
Asio otus (Linnaeus). 
Only a single example of this species came under my notice. 
Mr. Dabney procured it in Eayal during my absence in Elores, 
and kindly had it preserved for me. It was a very young bird, and 
was brought to him by a boy who took it from the nest. I had 
frequently heard of it in St. Michael’s; but it is nowhere com¬ 
mon, and I never met with it living. 
Strix elammea, Linnaeus. “ Coruja.” 
Occasionally met with in the eastern and central groups. In 
Flores and Corvo I did not find anyone who either knew the 
bird or the Portuguese name for it; hence I conclude it does not 
extend to these outer islands. Several people in St. Michael’s 
and Terceira told me they had seen it, but I was unable to pro¬ 
cure a specimen. The captain of a whaling-vessel told me that 
one flew on board his ship when about 500 miles S.W. of the 
* See “ Notes on the Ornithology of Madeira ” in Annals and Magazine 
of Natural History, 2nd ser. vol. xv. pp. 430-438. ' 
t Agor, in Portuguese, is properly the Kite ( Milvas ictinus ), for which 
species no doubt the early explorers mistook this bird. 
