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English epithet is nowadays hardly applicable. The name buzzard, however, belongs quite as rightfully to the birds called in books " harriers," which See also:

FORM (Lat. forma)

form a distinct subfamily of Falconidae under the See also:

TITLE (0. Fr. title, mod. titre, from Lat. titulus)

title Circinae, and by it one species, the See also:

MOOR

moor-buzzard (See also:

CIRCUS (Lat. circus, Gr. Kipeos or Kptxot, a ring or' circle; probably " circus " and " ring " are of the same origin)

Circus aeruginosus), is still known in such places as it inhabits. "Puttock" is also another name used in some parts of See also:

England, but perhaps is rather a synonym of the See also:

KITE

kite (Milvus See also:

ICTINUS

ictinus). Though ornithological writers are almost unanimous in distinguishing the buzzards as a group from the eagles, the grounds usually assigned for their separation are but slight, and the diagnostic See also:

CHARACTER (Gr. xapareri7p, from xap&crew, to scratch)

character that can be best trusted is probably that in the former the See also:

BILL

bill is decurved from the See also:

BASE

base, while in the latter it is for about a third of its length straight. The See also:

head, too, in buzzards is See also:

SHORT, FRANCIS JOB (1857– )

short and See also:

ROUND (O. Fr. rond, Lat. rotundus, the Fr. is the source also of Du. rond; Ger., Swed., Dan. and Nor. rond)

round, while in the eagles it is elongated. In a general way buzzards are smaller than eagles, though there are several exceptions to this statement, and have their plumage more mottled. Furthermore, most if not all of the buzzards, about which anything of the See also:

KIND (O. E. ge-cynde, from the same root as is seen in " kin," supra)

kind is with certainty known, assume their adult See also:

DRESS (from the Fr. dresser, to set out, arrange, formed from Lat. directus, arranged, dirigere, to direct, arrange)

dress at the first See also:

MOULT

moult, while the eagles take a longer See also:

time to reach maturity. The buzzards are See also:

FINE

fine-looking birds, but are slow and heavy of See also:

FLIGHT

flight, so that in the old days of See also:

FALCONRY (Fr. fauconnerie, from Late Lat. falco, falcon)

falconry they were regarded with See also:

INFINITE (from Lat. in, not, finis, end or limit; cf. findere, to deave)

infinite scorn, and hence in common English to See also:

CALL (from Anglo-Saxon ceallian, a common Teutonic word, cf. Dutch kallen, to talk or chatter)

call a See also:

man " a buzzard " is to denounce him as stupid. Their See also:

food consists of small mammals, See also:

young birds, See also:

REPTILES (Lat. Reptilia, creeping things, from reptilis; ref ere, to creep; Gr. Ep7rety, whence the term " herpetology," for the science dealing with them)

reptiles, amphibians and See also:

INSECTS

insects —particularly beetles—and thus they never could have been very injurious to the See also:

GAME

game-preserver, if indeed they were not reallyhis See also:

friends, though they have fallen under his See also:

ban; but at the See also:

PRESENT

present See also:

day they are so scarce that in England their effect, whatever it may be, is inappreciable. Buzzards are found over the whole See also:

WORLD

world with the exception of the Australian region, and have been split into many genera by systematists.

In the See also:

BRITISH

British Islands are two species, one See also:

RESIDENT

resident (the B. vulgaris already mentioned), and now almost confined to a few wooded districts; the other the rough-legged buzzard (Archibuteo lagopus), an irregular See also:

winter-visitant, sometimes arriving in large bands from the See also:

north of See also:

EUROPE

Europe, and readily distinguishable from the former by being feathered down to the toes. The See also:

HONEY (Chin. me ; Sansk. madhu, mead, honey; cf. A.S. medo, medu, mead; Gr. p Xt, in which 0 or b is changed into X; Lat. mel ; Fr. miel ; A.S. hung ; Ger. Honig)

honey-buzzard (Pernis apivorus), a summer-visitor from the See also:

south, and breeding, or attempting to breed, yearly in the New See also:

FOREST

Forest, does not come into the subfamily Buteoninae, but is probably the type of a distinct group, Perninae, of which there are other examples in See also:

Africa and See also:

ASIA

Asia. In See also:

AMERICA

America the name " buzzard " is popularly given to the See also:

TURKEY

turkey-buzzard or turkey-See also:

VULTURE

vulture (Cathartes See also:

AURA (from the Gr. for " breath " or " breeze ")

Aura). (A.

End of Article: BUZZARD

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