234 
DIURNAL BIRDS OF FRF Y 
America. It breeds in Southern Mexico, and thence to Brazil and Bolivia. Known 
to the Spaniards as the king eagle, and to the Aztecs as the winged wolf, the harpy 
attacks and kills animals of more than thrice its own size and weight. Turkeys, 
fawns, foxes, badgers, peccaries, sloths, and monkeys alike fall victims to this fell 
destroyer. In regions which it frequents the harpy may be seen sailing in the 
early morning high up in the clear sky, or wheeling in circles over the forests; 
while from March to June the tree-tops resound with the loud cries of its young. 
The nest, it is stated, may be situated either in a lofty tree or on the ledge of a cliff. 
The whole of the three genera above mentioned are characterised 
AUi@d Genera 
by the shortness of the interval between the tips of the primary and 
secondary quills, which is less than the length of the metatarsus. Three other 
genera from South and Central America, viz. Urobitinga, Buteogallus, and 
Busarellus, comprise much smaller buzzard-like birds, agreeing with the harpies 
in the above-mentioned character, but differing by the absence of crests. The last 
two genera have but a single species each; but there are several kinds of 
urobitingas, two of which range northwards into the south of Mexico. 
“ The buzzard,” writes Gilbert White, “ is a dastardly bird, and 
Buzzards ^ 
beaten not only by the raven, but even by the carrion-crow ”; and 
no better description could be given of the pusillanimous disposition of the birds 
of the genus Buteo. The buzzards are the typical representatives of the subfamily 
under consideration, and belong to that section in which the interval between the 
tips of the primary and secondary quills equals or exceeds the length of the meta¬ 
tarsus. They are specially characterised by the squared tail being of considerable 
length, and extending markedly below the closed wings; and also by the long 
oval nostrils, devoid of any central tubercle, and the bare metatarsus. The beak 
is rather small and weak; the wings have the fourth quill the longest, and the first 
four deeply notched on their inner margins;’the naked metatarsus is of moderate 
length and covered with scales and scutes; and the toes are short, with strong 
claws. Buzzards are represented by nearly twenty species, and have an almost world¬ 
wide distribution, although they are unknown in the Indian and Malayan regions, 
as well as in Oceania and Australasia. The common buzzard ( B. vulgaris ) is one of 
the species of British hawks which has suffered the least from the persecution of 
gamekeepers, and may still not unfrequently be seen in the wooded parts of the 
country. It belongs to a large group of the genus in which the tail is marked by 
more or less complete dark transverse bars, the number of such bars in this species 
varying from ten to thirteen. The general colour of the plumage is a clear dark 
brown, becoming paler on the crown of the head and cheeks and much darker on the 
primary quills; but there is such an extraordinary amount of individual variation 
in respect of colour, that scarcely any two birds can be found which are precisely 
alike. The under-parts are, however, generally yellowish white, with the feathers 
more or less streaked with brown; but the flanks and thighs are of a more 
uniformly brown hue. The under wing-coverts are also light coloured, and the 
under tail-coverts white; while the tail, which is brown above and greyish white 
below, is barred on both aspects. Some buzzards are, however, brown all over ; 
while in others, as in our figure, the throat and chest are brown, and as well as the 
thighs, are as dark as the upper surface, only the remainder of the under-parts being 
