SPARRO W-HA WKS. 
■oi 
variation in colour as the latter. Ranging over northern and central Europe and 
Siberia, this buzzard is met with yearly in the British Islands, where it sometimes 
occurs in considerable numbers, more especially in the autumn and winter. In 
the case of such a variable bird it will be unnecessary to give any description 
of the coloration, beyond stating that, according to Dr. Sharpe, the species is 
specially characterised by the brown colour of the markings on the flanks and 
thighs; and by the ground-colour of the head, throat, and chest being white or 
huffish white, upon which are buff streaks. In North America this species is 
replaced by St. John’s buzzard (A. sancti-johannis), distinguished by its generally 
darker colour and the larger amount of black on the lower surface. The 
ferruginous buzzard (A. ferrugineus) of south-western North America differs 
by the white flanks and the chestnut fawn of the flanks. A fourth species 
(A. strophiatus), characterised by its uniformly brown head, neck, and chest, 
inhabits Nipal and Tibet. The habits of the rougli-legged buzzards are so generally 
similar to those of the members of the genus Buteo, that they require but brief 
notice. The individuals of the European species visiting Britain prefer, however, 
according to Professor Newton, open districts, more especially where rabbits are 
abundant; those rodents together with water-fowl, constituting a large propor¬ 
tion of their food. The same writer describes the flight of the bird as slow but 
smooth, and, except during the periods of migration, not of long continuance. The 
nest, which is made rather late in the season, is generally placed in a high tree, and 
may contain from three to five eggs, the latter being subject to great variation in 
form, size, and coloration. Breeding commonly in the higher parts of Norway and 
Sweden, the rough-legged buzzard ranges as far polewards as the North Cape, 
and at times nests in the British Islands. During the breeding-season it utters a 
kind of wailing cry, which has been compared to the mew of a cat. America 
possesses four other genera of buzzard-like hawks, of which only Asturina 
possesses more than two species; and a fifth genus ( Urospizias), with one species, 
is confined to Australia. 
With the possible exception of some of the American forms just 
alluded to, the Accipitrines hitherto described have the metatarsus 
considerably shorter than the tibia. We now come to a group of long-legged hawks 
characterised by the great elongation of the metatarsus, which is approximately 
or quite equal in this respect to the tibia. This group, as represented by the 
sparrow-hawks, goshawks, and harriers, constitutes the subfamily Accipitrince. 
For its size, the common sparrow - hawk is one of the most dashing and 
rapacious of all the Accipitrines, although its depredations are too frequently 
attributed to the harmless kestrel. In common with its congeners, the sparrow- 
hawk agrees with the great majority of the subfamily in having the sides of the 
face completely feathered, and the lores furnished with bristles, while it resembles 
a smaller number of genera in the absence of reticulated scales on the back of the 
metatarsus. Sparrow-hawks may be distinguished from all their allies by the 
great length of the third toe, which (exclusive of the claw) is more than double 
the length of the ridge of the beak, measured from the front edge of the cere. 
The short beak curves regularly from the base, and has a distinct festoon in the 
upper cutting-edge, while the nostrils are oval. The wings are short, not reaching 
Sparrow-Hawks. 
