S57 



NOTES ON BRITISH BIRDS. 



By the Rev. George Jeans. 



^Communicated hy the Rev. F. 0, Morris.) 



OsPEET.— For two summers after I shot the one I spoke to you of, 

 I saw one haunting the same part of the Solent, though never near the 

 land ; and once after it had disappeared from the reach of the naked eye 

 by mounting up in its beautiful spirals, I succeeded in catching sight of it 

 with a telescope and watching it floating aloft for a considerable time. 

 They were said to build at the west end of the Isle of Wight, near the 

 Needles. 



Buzzard. — When I was a schoolboy, and carried a gun, a Buzzard 

 chose for his watch-tower a dead limb of a tree, not far from Egham 

 Church. The tree was conveniently placed for his purposes though so 

 near the town, for as it stood alone in a hedge in the field it commanded 

 a sufficient view around for security and for prog. And eager as I was for 

 him, and although he continued to frequent the spot for the greater part of 

 my holidays, he never gave me a chance of a shot at him. 



Hen Harrier. — A female was shot here at Bilsby, by the Rev. C. 

 Mason, which is preserved. 



Kite. — When I was a boy at Winchester College, Kites were almost 

 always within sight of our "meads" (playground), and one was caught in a 

 trap and kept tame. Now I am told they have not been seen even on the 

 downs about there for some years. 



Peregrine Falcon. — One was shot at Sutton here, by my pupil, F. 

 J. Alder, in 1857. 



Merlin. — When standing on the rocks at the Lands End, in Cornwall, 

 one dashed past me, flew a little way out over the Atlantic and returned 

 again, passing me within shot. About the year 1834, I shot at and missed 

 one when standing on the same stage (in Stokes Bay, Hampshire,) on 

 which I shot the Osprey some years before. 



Marsh Harrier.— In 1851 or 1852 I went to the Blow Well Holt, at 

 Tetney, Lincolnshire, to procure Wood pigeons, one evening about harvest 

 time. A young Ringdove flew out of a tree almost within reach of the 

 No. 17, Jan. 1. S 



