32 THE BIRDS OF OXFOEDSHIRE. 



of 1 851-2 {Zoologist, p. 3388), and Mr. E. D. Lockwood 

 informed Mr. W. W. Fowler that he saw one in the parish of 

 Kingham many years before. A fine male was trapped at 

 Bletching-don early in May^ 1880, and taken to Mr. Darbey of 

 Oxford, who received two more in the autumn of 1883 from 

 Mid Oxon, the exact particulars of which I have not been 

 able to obtain. On the 5tli December, 1885, I observed two 

 large hawks, which appeared to be of this species^ passing" 

 over the parish of Great Bourton ; they were flying at 

 a considerable elevation in a south-easterly direction, and 

 proceeded in a succession of circles, the second bird following' 

 the first at a short distance, and going through precisely the 

 same evolutions. The last specimen procured in the county 

 was a male shot at Horton on the 5th February, 1886 (A. H. 

 Macpherson, Zoologist, 1886, p. 108). 



^ 



THE ROUGH-LEGGED BUZZARD. 



Buteo lagopus. 



The Rough-legged Buzzard is a rare visitor. The Messrs. 

 Matthews met with a pair at Weston-on-the-Green, their 

 account of which is here quoted. ' A pair of this fine species 

 was in the habit of frequenting our neighbourhood for many 

 weeks in the winter of 1825, attracted, it was thought, by the 

 snipes which abound at that season in some marshy ground 

 near the village. Over this spot the buzzards might often be 

 seen, generally soaring in the air at a considerable elevation. 

 ... At last the female, a very large and handsome specimen, 

 was caught in a trap in Middleton Park, and kindly presented 

 to us by the Earl of Jersey.' They also received information 

 from Mr. T. Goatley of one shot near Oxford in 1840 

 [Zoologist, pp. 2595-6). About the middle of November, 1888, 

 a Rough-legged Buzzard was shot at Murcott, near Charlton- 

 on-Otmoor, and sent to Mr. W, C. Darbey for preservation. 



