BROWN OR COMMON BUZZARD. 189 



The history of the Buzzard is less remarkable than that of many 

 other birds of this family, and as it is not apt to attract attention, 

 little can be said of it. After procuring a sufficiency of food, it 

 retires to some large tree in a secluded place, or to the ledge of 

 some rock, and there reposes until digestion is far advanced. It 

 is this circumstance which has induced many persons to consider 

 it as of a remarkably indolent disposition ; but in this respect 

 it does not diiFer from the Eagles, or indeed any other species 

 of the same family. Toward the commencement of the breed- 

 ing season it assumes more activity, and is more frequently seen 

 soaring in circles. Its cry, which is loud and shrill, is also more 

 commonly heard at this season. 



In the wooded districts of England it is said to nestle on 

 trees ; but in Scotland it chooses for its nest a shelf of a rock, 

 or the edge of a steep scar or bed of a hill torrent, and forms it 

 of sticks, twigs, and heath, with a rude lining of wool and 

 grass. The eggs, three or four in number, are broadly ellip- 

 tical, two inches and a quarter in length, an inch and ten- 

 twelfths in breadth, dull white, spotted and patched with 

 yellowish-brown. During incubation, the male brings food to 

 the female, and sometimes takes her place on the eggs. The 

 young are at first covered with whitish down, and after leaving 

 the nest are assisted by their parents until able to shift for 

 themselves. 



" The Common Buzzard," as Mr Hepburn informs me, " is 

 a rare bird in Haddingtonshire. No one can help remarking 

 its sluggish habits compared with those of the other Raptores 

 found in the Lothians. It hunts the fields in a wavering direc- 

 tion, often turning and twisting, about a dozen or sixteen feet 

 from the ground, dropping down on the unsuspecting mouse, 

 and seizing the unwary bird perched on the hedge. So far as 

 I have seen, it does not come near the dwellings of man in 

 search of its food. One of these birds daily hunted our fields 

 from August to November 1837, and again during the same 

 period in 1838. Besides devouring mice, the Buzzard is of 

 great service to the farmer in effectually driving off the Ring- 

 Doves from the corn. Here you may see them feeding in flocks, 

 often containing as many as 500 or sometimes above 1000. He 



