VOLUME I.
GENUS II.--BUTEO, Bechst. BUZZARD.
Bill short, with the upper outline nearly straight and declinate to the
edge of the cere, then decurved, the sides rapidly sloping, the edges with a
slight festoon, the tip trigonal, acute; lower mandible with the dorsal line
convex and ascending, the edges arched, at the end deflected, the tip rounded.
Head large, roundish, flattened above. Nostrils obovate, nearer the ridge than
the margin. Neck rather short. Body full. Feet short, robust; tarsi roundish,
anteriorly feathered half way down, and scutellate, posteriorly also scutellate;
toes of moderate length, scaly for half their length; claws long, arched,
compressed, acuminate. Plumage full and rather blended. Space between the bill
and eye covered with bristly feathers. Wings long, broad, the fourth quill
longest, the first and seventh or eighth about equal; the first four abruptly
cut out on the inner web. Tail rather long, broad, slightly rounded. Cere and
feet yellow; bill light blue at the base, black at the tip, in all the American
species.