BUZZARD AND CAPERCAILLIE 



23 



BUZZARD, COMMON (Buteo vulgaris) 



Local Names. — Blood Hawk, Mouse Buzzard, Puttock. 



Haunt. — Mountains, cliffs, moors, large woods, and other places. 



Nesting Period. — May. 



Site of Nest. — Cliffs, trees, etc. 



Materials Used. — Large and small sticks, 



lined with dry grass, leaves, wool, 



etc. Sometimes heather is used. A 



large nest. The deserted nest of a 



Crow is often appropriated. 

 Eggs. — Three. Greenish-white, slightly 



marked with pale brown. 

 Food. — Small birds, hares, rabbits, rats, 



and reptiles. 

 Voice. — A plaintive and monotonous 



call: " pe-e-i-oo," or " a-e-i-o-u." 

 Chief Features. — A handsome bird of prey, 



and a magnificent species when seen 



on wing. Commoner than most 



people imagine. 

 Plumage. — The upper parts of the head 



and neck are dark brown, with a mottling of brown of a darker 



shade; lead -coloured beak ; cere, irides, and feet yellow. Length. 



— Male about twenty inches ; the female exceeds her mate by 



two inches. 



Fig. 3. Head and Foot of 

 Common Buzzard. 



CAPERCAILLIE (Tetrao urogallus) 



Local Names. — Capercailzie, Caperkally, Cock of the Mountain or 

 Wood, Great Grouse, Mountain Cock, Wood Grouse. 



Haunt. — Moors and forests in Scotland. 



Nesting Period. — End of May and beginning of June. 



Site of Nest. — In a forest among heather or bilberries. 



Materials Used. — A depression in the ground, and this, with the excep- 

 tion perhaps of a few blades of grass, constitutes the " nest." 



Eggs. — Six to Twelve. Pale reddish-yellow-brown, well spotted all 

 over with two shades of darker orange-brown. 



Food. — Buds and shoots of plants and trees, also berries. 



Voice. — A strong double cry, frequently repeated. 



Chief Features. — This is our largest British Game bird, and has had 

 a curious history in Great Britain, as it became extinct about 

 the middle of the eighteenth century, but since its reintroduc- 

 tion some eighty or ninety years later has flourished exceedingly. 



Plumage. — For the description of this bird I quote from Hudson's 



