BUZZARD. 313 



times a mere hollow, surrounded by a slight rim of nesting 

 material, suffices, but some nests are constructed of a mass oi 

 sticks, reeds, flags and grasses. It is usually on or near the 

 ground, but sometimes on rather than in a bush, or raised 

 above a wet marsh on the beaten-down vegetation. In 

 England eggs (Plate 125) are seldom laid before the end of 

 May ; they are similar to those of the Hen-Harrier, but, on the 

 average, smaller ; four to six is the usual number. The young 

 in down are white. 



The male is blue-grey above, with black primaries and a 

 dark bar across the wing ; the upper tail-coverts are ashy grey, 

 and the grey tail has the outer feathers barred. The white 

 under parts have strong rufous streaks. The bill is blackish, 

 the cere, legs and irides yellow. The female is dark brown, 

 streaked on the paler head and neck, white above the eye and 

 on the chin, and with a pale edged facial disc ; the tail is barred, 

 the outer feathers with rufous. The under parts are buff, 

 streaked with rufous ; the irides are hazel. Young males 

 resemble the female, but the upper parts have buff edges 

 to the feathers and the under parts are almost unstreaked. 

 Dark, sometimes almost black, forms of this variable bird are 

 not infrequently recorded ; one of these is shown on the plate. 

 Length, 18 ins. (male), 19 ins. (female). Wing, 15 ins. 

 Tarsus, 2*3 ins. 



Buzzard. Buteo buteo (Linn.). 



Several races of Buzzards occupy the Palasarctic region ; 

 our resident bird (Plate 130) is the typical western European 

 form. In the northern parts of its range the Buzzard is migra- 

 tory, and some numbers reach our eastern seaboard in autumn, 

 and are met with in various places as winter visitors. At one 

 time the bird was well distributed throughout the British Isles, 

 but game-preservation and the consequent ruthless destruction 



