. A history of British birds. Birds. 122 BRITISH BIRDS. and usually very low, just above the ground. Sometimes it may be seen sitting on the road-side, on a large stone or fence, from which it flaps slowly forward to secure, with unerring certainty, some mouse or other small mammal. At times the Buzzard flies at a great height, sailing slowly about the heavens in graceful swoops and curves, its broad wings and tail expanded to their fullest extent, the motion of the tail helping to guide the bird through space. In the typical form of the Common Buzzard the tail is crossed with about ten pale b
. A history of British birds. Birds. 122 BRITISH BIRDS. and usually very low, just above the ground. Sometimes it may be seen sitting on the road-side, on a large stone or fence, from which it flaps slowly forward to secure, with unerring certainty, some mouse or other small mammal. At times the Buzzard flies at a great height, sailing slowly about the heavens in graceful swoops and curves, its broad wings and tail expanded to their fullest extent, the motion of the tail helping to guide the bird through space. In the typical form of the Common Buzzard the tail is crossed with about ten pale bars, and has a slight pale tip; legs and toes yellow; claws black; beak bluish black; cere yellow; irides yellowish brown, dark hazel in the young. Three other species belonging to the genus Buteo have been recorded as occurring in the British Islands. The Red-tailed Buzzard {Buteo borealis), a species inhabiting Eastern North America and the West Indies, is said to have been killed, in the aiitumn of 1860, in Nottinghamshire. Another American species, the Red-shouldered Buzzard [Buteo Uneatus), is reported to have been killed in Invernessshire in 1863, and is recorded in ' The Ibis' for 1865 (p. 549). Lastly, the African {Buteo desertorum), of which three examples are said to have been obtained: the first was killed at Everley, Wiltshire, in September 1864; the other two specimens were obtained in Northumberland — one near Newcastle in 1830, the other at Tynemouth in November 1870. There is no evidence to prove that these birds had not escaped from confinement; nor is it certain that the identification was Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Seebohm, Henry, 1832-1895. London, Pub. for the author by R. H. Porter [etc. ]
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1883
