Volume Ii Part 13 (2/2)

109 (Azul); _Withington, Ibis_, 1888, p. 469 (Lomas de Zamora).

+Buteo tricolor+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 436 (Mendoza and Tuc.u.man).

_Description._--Above slaty blue; wing-feathers slaty, with narrow transverse bars of black; upper tail-coverts and tail white, the latter with a broad black subapical band and numerous narrow grey cross bars: beneath white, with slight grey cross bars on the belly; bill black; feet dirty yellow: whole length 25 inches, wing 185, tail 100. _Female_ similar, but back deep chestnut.

_Hab._ Southern portion of South America.

This is a fine bird--the king of South-American Buzzards. In the adult female the three colours of the plumage are strongly contrasted; the back being rusty rufous, the rest of the upper parts grey, the whole under surface pure white. It is occasionally met with in the northern provinces of the Argentine Republic, but is most common in Patagonia; and it has been said that in that region it takes the place of the nearly allied _Buteo albicaudatus_ of Brazil. In habits, however, the two species are as different as it is possible for two raptores to be; for while the northern bird has a cowardly spirit, is, to some extent, gregarious, and feeds largely on insects, the Patagonian species has the preying habits of the Eagle, and lives exclusively, I believe, or nearly so, on cavies and other small mammals. When Captain King first discovered it in 1827, he described it as ”a small beautiful Eagle.” In Patagonia it is very abundant, and usually seen perched on the summit of a bush, its broad snowy-white bosom conspicuous to the eye at a great distance--one of the most familiar features in the monotonous landscape of that grey country. The English colonists on the Chupat, Durnford says, call it the ”white horse,” owing to its conspicuous white colour often deceiving them when they are out searching for strayed horses in the hills. It is a wary bird, and when approached has the habit of rising up in widening circles to a vast height in the air. When sailing about in quest of prey it usually maintains a height of fifty or sixty yards above the surface. The stomachs of all the individuals I have examined contained nothing but the remains of cavies (_Cavia australis_).

The nest is built on the top of a thorn bush, and is a large structure of sticks, lined with gra.s.s, fur, dry dung, and other materials. ”The eggs are greyish white in colour, blotched and marked, princ.i.p.ally towards the large end, with two shades of umber-brown” (_Gould_).

298. ANTENOR UNICINCTUS (Temm.).

(ONE-BANDED BUZZARD.)

+Asturina unicincta+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 436 (Mendoza).

+Urubitinga unicincta+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 119; _Gibson, Ibis_, 1879, p. 411 (Buenos Ayres); _Salvin, Ibis_, 1880, p. 362 (Salta); _Withington, Ibis_, 1888, p. 469 (Lomas de Zamora).

+Antenor unicinctus+, _Ridgw. N. A. B._ iii. p. 249 (1874).

+Erythrocnema unicincta+, _Sharpe, Cat. B._ i. p. 85.

_Description._--Above black, upper wing-coverts chestnut; upper tail-coverts white; tail black, concealed base and tip white: beneath black; thighs deep ferruginous; crissum white: whole length 230 inches, wing 145, tail 95. _Female_ similar, but larger.

_Hab._ North and South America.

This is the Common Buzzard of the Plata region. It differs from the species previously described in its greater length of wing, and in the habit of flying near the ground when in search of prey; resembling in this respect a Harrier, only its flight is slower and more loitering. It prefers an open country, but on the pampas, like all large Hawks, it meets with great persecution from the ever-vigilant, fierce-tempered Spur-winged Lapwing. I once saw one of these Buzzards, while being so persecuted, make a conquest which greatly surprised me. It was sailing over the plain, about twenty feet from the surface, harried by several Lapwings, when suddenly, just as one Lapwing swept downwards past it in the usual way, apparently missing the head of the Hawk with its sharp wing-spurs by a hair's breadth, the Buzzard struck at and seized it in its claws and bore it to the ground. The screams of the captive and its fellows quickly brought to the spot a cloud of two or three hundred Lapwings, all hovering and screaming their loudest. I ran to the spot to aid in the rescue, when seeing me coming the Buzzard rose heavily from the ground, still carrying the Plover, and flew away beyond reach.

299. HETEROSPIZIAS MERIDIONALIS (Lath.).

(BROWN BUZZARD.)

+Urubitinga meridionalis+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 119; _iid. P.

Z. S._ 1869, p. 634 (Buenos Ayres); _Salvin, Ibis_, 1880, p. 362 (Salta). +Heterospizias meridionalis+, _Sharpe, Cat. B._ i.

p. 160; _Barrows, Auk_, 1884, p. 109 (Entrerios). +Asturina rutilans+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 436 (Tuc.u.man).

_Description._--Above slaty grey, pa.s.sing into ferruginous rufous on the head, and blackish on the lower tail-coverts; wing-feathers chestnut, with narrow transverse black bars and long black ends; tail black, with a broad median white band and white tip: beneath clear ferruginous red, with narrow transverse black bars; bill black, yellow at the base; feet yellowish brown: whole length 200 inches, wing 165, tail 83. _Female_ similar, but larger.

_Hab._ South America.

This Buzzard inhabits the northern portion of the Argentine Republic, and is also found in the woods and marshes along the Plata basin, ranging south to Buenos Ayres. The wings are larger and the flight slower than in the last species. The plumage is nearly of a uniform dark brown.

At Concepcion, in Entrerios, Mr. Barrows tells us it is not unfrequently seen in cold weather. In July 1880, during an almost unprecedented rise of the river, it was quite abundant. The stomach of a gorged female examined contained only young gra.s.shoppers.

300. GERANOAeTUS MELANOLEUCUS (Vieill.).

(CHILIAN EAGLE.)

<script>