BUZZARD, a bird of prey. The buzzards are distinguished from the eagles by their bill, which is decurved from the base. The head, too, in buzzards is short and round, while in the eagles it is elongated. In a general way buzzards are smaller than eagles, and have their plumage more mottled. Furthermore, most if not all of the buzzards assume their adult dress at the first moult, while the eagles take longer to reach maturity. The buzzards are fine looking birds, but are slow and heavy of flight. Their food consists of small mammals, young birds, reptiles, amphibians and insects. Buzzards are found over the whole world with the ex ception of the Australian region. In the British Isles are two species, one resident (Buteo buteo) and now confined to a few wooded districts; the other, the rough-legged buzzard (B. lago pus), a somewhat irregular winter visitant. The honey-buzzard (Pernis apivorus), a summer visitor from the south, and breeding, or attempting to breed, yearly in the New Forest, is the type of a distinct genus of which there are other examples in Africa and Asia. In America the name "buzzard" is popularly given to the turkey-buzzard or turkey-vulture (Cathartes aura). There are also several species of the genus Buteo in North America : the red-tailed hawk (B. borealis), and red-shouldered hawk (B. lineatus), with eastern and western forms; and Swainson's hawk, in the western states.