78 FALCONID.E. 



one inch and ten lines in breadth, of a soiled white colour, 

 slightly spotted with pale brown. Both parent birds attend 

 upon and feed their young with great assiduity ; and Ray, 

 in his letters, as recorded by Pennant, says, that the male 

 Buzzard Avill hatch and bring up the offspring if the hen 

 is killed. The young accompany the old ones for some little 

 time after they quit the nest ; and White of Sclborne adds, 

 that they follow their dam with a piping and wailing noise. 

 In confinement, says Mr. Atkinson, our Buzzards are ob- 

 served to hide their food when satisfied, like the Magpie. 



The extreme partiality of the Common Buzzard to the 

 seasonal task of incubation and rearing young birds has been 

 exemplified in various instances. A few years back, a female 

 Buzzard, kept in the garden of the Chequers Inn at Ux- 

 bridge, showed an inclination to sit by collecting and bend- 

 ing all the loose sticks she could obtain possession of. Her 

 owner, noticing her actions, supplied her with materials ; 

 she completed her nest, and sat on two hcn"'s eggs, which 

 she hatched, and afterwards reared the young. Since then, 

 she has hatched and brought up a brood of chickens every 

 year. She indicates her desire to sit by scratching holes in 

 the ground, and breaking and tearing everything within her 

 reach. One summer, in order to save her the fatigue of sitting, 

 some young Chickens just hatched were put down to her ; but 

 she destroyed the whole. Her family in June 1831 consist- 

 ed of nine ; the original number were ten, but one had been 

 lost. When flesh was given to her, she was very assiduous 

 in tearing and offering it as food to her nurslings, and 

 appeared uneasy if, after taking small portions from her, they 

 turned away to pick up grain. Several other similar in- 

 stances are recorded. 



Though more rare now than formerly, an enumeration of 

 county localities for a bird so well known will probably be 

 considered unnecessary. According to Mr. Thompson, as 



