14 mnrisii birds' nests. 



Wiiif^- - quills browiiisli- black. Chin and throat 

 j'ellowish or dusky white. Breast, belly, and thighs 

 greyish or yellowish-^Yhite, streaked and spotted with 

 yellowisli-brown. Under tail-coverts white. Legs 

 and toes yellow ; claws black. 



The female is darker than the male, and often 

 larger. The colour of plumage in both sexes is 

 subject to great variation. 



Situation cold Local it?/. — In the forked branches 

 of a tree, sometimes on a horizontal branch at a 

 little distance from the trunk. Also in high, in- 

 accessible maritime cliffs and tall crags in wild 

 secluded districts of England, Wales, Scotland, and 

 Ireland. The bird will often adoj^t an old crow's 

 nest, and generally returns to the same breeding- 

 place year after year. Our illustration represents 

 a cliff in Mull, in which a Buzzard and Peregrine 

 Falcon were breeding at the time the photograph 

 was taken. 



Materials. — Sticks and twigs in liberal quantities, 

 lined with hay, wool, and leaves, sometimes scraps 

 of down. 



^90^- — Two to four, generall}' three. Some- 

 times dingy white and unspotted, at otliers greenish 

 or bluish-white, spotted, blotched, and streaked with 

 red-brown and pale rust-colour. Very variable in 

 regard to size and coloration. Average about 2.16 

 by 1-72 in. 



Time. — April and May. 



Bemarl-s. — Resident. Note, a monotonous and 

 plaintive pe-e-i-o-oo. Local and other names : 

 Buzzard, Puttock. Not a ver}' close sitter, excej^t 

 when incubation is advanced. 



