606 NOTES FROM THE 
over. In the plain of Laxenburg the Steppe-Harrier (Circus 
pallidus) is the only one that remains, and it occurs but very 
rarely ; on the 25th of October I shot one at the EHagle-Owl 
hut. Both the Marsh-Harrier (C. @ruginosus) and Montagu’s 
Harrier (C. cineraceus), however, left the district altogether 
at the end of September, and in October there was not one of 
them to be seen. 
The Common Buzzard (Buteo vulgaris) took up its abode 
here during the autumn in fairly large numbers. One of 
them hunts every day in the meadows in front of my windows 
and is remarkably tame. 
The Rough-legged Buzzard (Buteo lagopus) came earlier 
than usual, for the first were seen before the 15th of October, 
and by the 20th their migration had reached its height. On 
that date I rode in the morning straight across country from 
Laxenburg to Fischamend on the Danube, returning in the 
afternoon, and it must have been an especially favourable day 
for the passage of the raptorial birds, for on the way I saw 
the “Stein” Eagle already mentioned, more than thirty 
Rough-legged Buzzards, several Common Buzzards, a Pere- 
grine Falcon, a Saker (Falco laniarius), several Merlins 
(£" esalon), and one or two Pallid Harriers. 
The Kestrels are still here, but not in such abundance as 
before ; but to make up for them there are more Sparrow- 
Hawks (Astur nésus) and Goshawks (4. palumbartus). 
On the 21st some Rough-legeed Buzzards came to the 
HKagle-Owl hut, but not so many as the numbers seen on the 
previous day would have led one to expect. On the 24th 
there was another very large flight of these birds; on the 
25th I only observed one; but it was a very good day for 
Falcons, for I saw three Sakers at the Owl, one of which 
stooped well and was shot, and an old specimen of the Peregrine, 
which I also bagged. 
