182 Mr. H. Saunders on Birds 



which is, however, far more frequent, mostly in immature 

 plumage. The Short-toed Eagle [Circaetus gallicus) nests 

 annually, according to M. Vaucher, on the wooded portions 

 of Mont Saleve ; also, irregularly, in other parts of Switzer- 

 land. The Osprey [Pandion haliaetus) is known to breed 

 sparingly near Schaffhausen and in the vicinity of all the 

 large lakes, while it is not uncommon on passage. In 

 January 1891 I saw one over the upper end of Lake Leman. 



MiLvus MIGRANS (Boddacrt). 



The Black Kite was first seen on April 10th, and often 

 afterwards over the Lake of Geneva. There it is common ; 

 while several pairs were always to be seen on the Lake of 

 Neuchatel, though the bird rarely showed itself above Chau- 

 mont. I often saw it drop down upon surface-fish, and eat 

 them from one foot as it flew, in the manner described by 

 Mr. Scott Wilson ; and I also observed that while one of a 

 pair was fishing the other was soaring at a great height, as 

 he has stated. Though common on the large lakes and 

 rivers, the Black Kite is rare elsewhere ; it migrates early. 



The Red Kite {M. ictinus) is more generally distributed, 

 but I never saw it alive in Switzerland. 



AsTUR PALUMBARius (Linn.). 



The Goshawk is resident in the low country. It was seen 

 near Lausanne, and often in the Neuchatel Jura, where I 

 tried in vain, unassisted, to find the nests of two pairs of 

 birds. One of these was undoubtedly near the well-known 

 Pierre-a-Bot (a huge erratic boulder, brought by ice from 

 the Mont Blanc formation), but that part of the forest was 

 2000 feet below the top of Chaumont, and there was the 

 climbing back to be considered ! 



AcciPiTER Nisus (Linn.). 



The Sparrow-Hawk is very common. On Chaumont I saw 

 a female carrying off something — probably a chicken — so 

 heavy that her legs were dragged down to their full extent, 

 and she could scarcely reach the shelter of the trees. A nest 

 with four eggs, taken on May 23rd, was made entirely of 

 twigs of larch. 



