1 8 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS 



observed there more than half-a-dozen times. One 

 was shot on the Cashen river, Co. Kerry, in the 

 winter of 1880-81 ("Fowler in Ireland," p. 307). 



COMMON BUZZARD. Buteo vulgaris, Leach. PI. 3, 

 figs. 3, 4, 4a. Length, ^ 22 in., $ 23 in. ; wing, 

 $ 15 in., $ 16-5 in. ; tarsus, $ 2-75 in, $ 3 in. 



A local resident, migrating to the east and south- 

 east in autumn ; gradually being exterminated by 

 gamekeepers and collectors. Some idea of the num- 

 ber of Buzzards that formerly haunted the woods 

 around the English Lakes may be gathered from 

 the fact that a keeper in the employ of General 

 Wyndham in 1841 destroyed no fewer than fifty 

 of these birds within a short time of his engage- 

 ment. Fortunately a few still linger about their 

 old haunts, and continue to nest in Westmorland 

 (Macphcrson, "Fauna of Lakeland," 1892, p. 184). 

 In 1852 the Buzzard nested at Sedburgh, near 

 Kendal, and three eggs were laid (Nat., 1853, 

 p. 108). The following year a pair nested on a 

 crag known as the Red Scar, near Richmond, 

 Yorkshire, and hatched five young (Nat., 1854, 

 p. 81). In 1876, and from that year until 1880, 

 there were nests at Gosforth in Cumberland (Zool., 

 1881, p. 106), and from 1880 until the present time 

 a few pairs have nested regularly in some of the 

 more unfrequented parts of Wales. I have recently 

 heard of nests at Ponterwyd and Pistyll-y-Llyn, at 

 the head of the Llyfnant Valley. In 1895 the young 

 were successfully reared in the New Poorest. 



