Buzzards.
These are characterized by their long wings, even tail, and the beak suddenly curved from the base.
F. altivorous, Lin. &c. Honey Buzzard, Prov. CaMed Bird, Brown, with cincreous bands on the wings ; under parts white, with transverse sub-ferruginous bars, the space between the eye and the bill covered with feathers very compactly arranged, in the form of scales. This last circumstance is more characteristic than the disposition of the colours, which varies considerably, according to sex, age, and accidental modifications. The total length of the full grown male is about two feet, the extent of four feet one inch, and the weight about thirty ounces.
Although the honey buzzard has many of the propensi ties of the kite, it does not, like it, soar aloft, but flies from tree to tree, and from bush to bush, or runs along the ground, in quest of field-mice, frogs, lizards, caterpillars, &c. It feeds its young with the larv? of wasps, and per haps of bees. It builds in trees, forming its nest of small twigs, lined with wool, and laying, for the most part, two eggs, but sometimes only one, smaller, and not so round as those of the buzzard, of a dirty white, and blotched all over with rust colour, but sometimes dotted at each end with small red spots, and surrounded in the middle with a broad blood-coloured zone. The female occasionally makes good her lodging in the old nest of another bird, particu larly in that of the kite. This species occurs, though spar ingly, in England, and in France; its numbers have been much reduced, but it abounds in some of the 'northern and eastern parts of the world, as in the open regions of Rus sia and Siberia, particularly on the borders of Lake Kras nojurk, where the most ordinary articles of its food are toads and lizards. In winter, the young birds are caught in snares, being then fat, and reputed fit for the table, hav ing less of the alkaline and ammoniacal flavour than most birds of prey, and which usually yields to the application of the vegetable acids, as of vinegar.
lagopus, Guild. Lath.; F. plumilzes, Daud.; F. &la vonicus, Lath. Buse Gantee, of Levaill. Rough-legged Falcon. Feet feathered to the toes, a large brown patch on the belly, and a considerable portion of the tail white from its origin. These characters are sufficiently discri minative; and the more general markings arc liable to vary. The male is about nineteen or twenty inches in length. and the female two feet three inches. It occurs in the North of Europe, in North America, and also in the heart of Africa, frequenting the outskirts of woods, in the neighbourhood of waters and marshes, and feeding on small quadrupeds, game, and reptiles. It is more tierce and sanguinary than others of its tribe, nestles in large trees, and lays four or five eggs, marked with reddish un dulations. It has sometimes been shot in England.
F. buteo, Lin. &c. F. common's fuscus. F variegatus, F. albidus, and F. versicolor, Gmel. Common Buzzard, Prov. Pollock. Varied with brown and ferruginous above, with white and ferruginous beneath ; ccre and legs yellow; tail banded with brown. The subordinate details of the colouring are so very variable, that scarcely any two indi viduals exactly resemble each other. The female is ge nerally of darker hues than the male, weighs about thirty Ounces, and measures about twenty-one inches in length, and four feet one inch in extent of wing. It is the Falco ranivorus of Shaw, the Grenouillard of Levaillant, and the Busard Roux of Vieillot. The big head, short neck, thick body, clumsy limbs, and large lifeless eyes, suffi ciently bespeak the sluggish dispositions of the buzzard. Too heavy and indolent to hunt by flight, it will continue motionless, for hours together, on a tree, bush, stone, or clod of earth, till some game passes within its spring, when it dashes on, and devours it. Small birds, young rabbits and hares, moles, field-mice, lizards, frogs, toads, &c. constitute its ordinary fare; but, in default of these, it will cat worms, beetles, and even carrion. In the breed ing it is more active, and will soar to a considerable height, ascending in a spiral direction. The female makes her nest in the fork of a tree, with large sticks, and lines it with wool, hair, or other soft substances, and sometimes takes possession of a deserted crow's nest, which it en larges, and accommodates to its purpose. She usually deposits two, not unfrequently three, and seldom four eggs, rather larger than those of a hen, of a dirty white, or greenish, and most commonly spotted with rust-colour, chiefly at the larger end. The young, when in the nest, are covered over with a yellowish down ; and they begin to perch on bushes about the middle of July, when they utter a shrill and plaintive cry. It has likewise been ob served, that they accompany the old birds for some time after quitting the nest, a circumstance unusual in other birds of prey, which generally drive off their young as soon as they can fly. Ray affirms, that if the hen should happen to be killed, the cock buzzard will hatch and rear the brood. The eyes of this bird arc readily dazzled by a strong light ; and it seems to welcome the setting of the sun, especially in summer, by its stridulous call, thus ap proaching to the nocturnal birds of prey. It is one of the most common birds of the hawk kind that we have in this country, and is, indeed, very generally spread over the world, exhibiting many varieties, several of which have been inadvertently described as separate species. Although of little service in falconry, it is capable of being trained, in a certain degree, to habits of domestication.