SOME RARE BIRDS 237 



in particular, which at times he finds in abundance, 

 especially during the lambing season ; varied (and 

 this chiefly when he has young to cater for) by 

 rabbits, moles, mice, and beetles. But who will grudge 

 him a rabbit or two or even a sickly grouse "cheeper" 

 that would do no credit to the " pack " ? 



To our minds Biiteo is a noble-looking fellow, 

 though we must admit he is far from brave, and 

 is frequently beaten off and remorselessly harried by 

 birds not half his size, though as an exception to this 

 we may incidentally say that whilst otter-hunting 

 during the present summer we saw one mobbing 

 a Heron. This year, too, a couple of curious facts 

 come under our notice with regard to this species. 

 The first has to do with his cry, which, usually a clear 

 mewing whistle, wild and mournful but nevertheless 

 a fitting accompaniment to the landscape, be it rugged 

 hills, heathery waste, or leafy woodland, is on this 

 occasion a sort of screeching croak, iterated several 

 times. The second touches his nesting economy, and 

 in this case we find that two eyries are being used by 

 one pair of birds and an q^^ laid in each. 



The poor Buzzard suffers much from that pest the 

 egg-dealer, and in a minor degree from that sable 

 villain the Gore Crow, which, as we can testify, levies 

 toll from its eggs. We continue our ramble along 

 the rough path skirting the stream, which now 

 sinuously embraces the base of a large and noble, 

 hanging oak wood, which half a dozen years ago was 

 a sure habitat for a Fork-Tailed Kite's nest. Now, 

 alas ! we search it in vain, for the greed of the 

 collector and crass ignorance of the gamekeeper and 



