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parish in March, 1879, and another was shot at Muncaster; and 
one near Hallbolton, October, 1880o. 
THE BuZzzarRpb. 
In spite of the size and fine appearance of the Buzzard, and its 
general likeness in colour and flight to the Eagle, its character is 
entirely different. It is both cowardly and lazy, and has been 
known to fly before the little Sparrow-hawk. This is the generally 
accepted opinion; but I have seen a Buzzard attack and get the 
better of a pair of Carrion Crows. It was of no use at all for 
hawking. 
It is very generally distributed over England, though fast 
disappearing in the south. Here amongst the mountains it holds 
its own very fairly, though not so numerous as it was some years 
since. It is the commonest large hawk we have, and one or more 
may generally be seen in the course of a walk across the fells. It 
is a very striking bird, its large broad blunt wings (so different to 
the pointed pinions of the Peregrine,) making it conspicuous 
against the sky, and its slow circling flight (unlike the dash of the 
last-named bird,) giving plenty of time for observation. 
The Buzzard is said to fly low ; but nine times out of ten when I have seen 
them, they have been soaring high in the air at an elevation of several hundred 
feet. This peculiar slow soaring in circles has gained it its name of Glead, 
whichisderived from the Anglo-Saxon verb G/dan, to glide. The bird goes slowly 
round and round in huge circles, without any perceptible motion of its wings ; 
it goes away from you, turns with a slight swing and comes back, till you 
involuntarily watch for the moment when the impetus will subside and the bird 
be compelled to flap its wings. How these circles are completed against the 
wind, without perceptible muscular effort, is hard to say. 
When flushed the Buzzard rises slowly like the Eagle, the light and dark 
markings showing conspicuously even when high up. It often sits for a long 
time on a rock or stump watching for prey, or perhaps guarding the nest. They 
keep very much to one haunt, and may be seen day after day at nearly the 
same hour beating the same piece of ground. The note is extremely harsh, 
hence its local name of Shreak. 
The Buzzard is of course persecuted by the gamekeeper, though it does little 
harm and a fair amount of good. It feeds on and destroys numberless moles, 
rats, snakes (especially vipers), frogs, toads, worms, newts, and insects. So 
