COMMON BUZZARD. 119 
during the breeding-season it is necessary to visit the forests of North 
Germany, where it is still a common bird, by far the commonest bird of 
prey. The Prussian foresters are well educated, and understand the dif- 
ference between destructive and harmless birds. The Buzzard breeds on 
the outskirts of the forests, whence it issues in search of food, and may 
often be seen perched on the bare hill-sides, waiting for mice and other 
smal] mammals, or may be observed crossing the open fields with some- 
what heavy and indolent flight. It is equally common in dry as in swampy 
woods, and breeds in pine-forests as freely as in those of beech oroak. In 
the forests near Brunswick I found the nests mostly in beech and oak ; but 
in Pomerania many were in Scotch firs, one in a birch, and one in an elm. 
Many Buzzards remain in North Germany during the winter; but most 
leave for warmer climes in September and October, returning to their 
breeding-grounds about the middle of March. The Buzzard builds a nest 
from one and a half to two feet in diameter, and, if it is in the fork of a 
tree, sometimes nearly as high. The foundation is of large twigs, finished 
at the top with slender twigs. It is very flat, the hollow in the middle 
containing the eggs about the size and depth of a soup-plate. The final 
lining is fresh green leaves, generally beech; but in one nest, although it 
was in a beech tree, the lining was green larch-twigs. This lining must 
be renewed from time to time. Out of eleven nests near Brunswick, five 
of which contained eggs, five young birds, and one three eggs and a young 
bird, all but one were lined with fresh leaves. The one that had no green 
_ lining was the last we examined, and contained three very large young 
birds. This was also the only nest containing young which did not also 
contain some food, and the only nest where we saw nothing of the parent 
birds; they were no doubt absent in search of food to satisfy the vora- _ 
cious appetites of their three children, and had probably no time to spare 
to renew the lining. What the object of this fresh lining of green leaves 
can be Ido not know. We never found any birds in the larder. One 
nest contained a blindworm in two pieces, and two short-tailed field-mice. 
A second nest contained a frog and half a long-tailed field-mouse. A third 
contained no fewer than eleven short-tailed field-mice ; whilst a fourth nest, 
containing three young, was supplied with six large short-tailed field-mice 
and seven smaller ones. <A fifth nest, containing only one young bird, also 
contained a mole and a long-tailed field-mouse. The nests varied from 50 
to 90 feet from the ground; but some, to which we did not attempt to 
climb, were higher. In Pomerania I saw several nests in Scotch firs, not 
more than 25 feet from the ground. My friend Dr. Holland, who has 
paid great attention to the birds of prey in Pomerania for many years, 
informs me that the Buzzard begins to lay about the middle of April (I 
took eggs, all highly incubated, near Brunswick, between the 4th and 17th 
of May), that the period of incubation lasts three weeks, and that the male 
