THE TEESA 35 



takes up a position on a bare branch of a tree, a tele- 

 graph pole, a fence, or other point of vantage, such as a 

 heap of kankar, and there waits patiently until some 

 small creature wanders by. On to this he quietly drops, 

 secures it in his feeble talons, and returns to the perch 

 to devour his quarry and thus bring to a close one of 

 nature's Httle tragedies, of which millions are being 

 daily enacted. After he has finished his dinner he 

 loves to sit awhile, as the nursery rhyme tells us we 

 should do, and quietly digest what he has eaten. I 

 once disturbed a Butastur that had just finished a 

 heavy meal in the shape of a frog, with the result that 

 the bird " brought up " the frog ! 



Sometimes the white-eyed buzzard beats over the 

 ground in search of its quarry, but this is not his usual 

 modus operandi. If you would see the white-eyed 

 buzzard, go into an open place and w^atch for a brown 

 bird a little larger than a crow, sitting motionless on 

 some point of vantage, like Patience on a monument. 

 By its sluggish habits, its small size, its white eye, and 

 the whitish patch at the back of its head, you may 

 recognise it. It utters a pecuHar plaintive screaming 

 call, which is heard mostly at the nesting season. 

 " In February and March," writes Mr, Donald, " just 

 before the breeding season, these birds may be fre- 

 quently seen soaring high up in the heavens, and giving 

 vent to their plaintive call, and might be taken for 

 falcons if it were not for their much more rounded 

 wings. When at a height their breasts appear dark 

 and their wings (lower surface) very light and silvery." 



Needless to say, the nest of this species is not a very 



