AND NEIGHBOURHOOD. 35 



often only two, of a dirty white, spotted and streaked 

 with reddish brown. I imagine that the Kite must 

 always have been a far greater enemy to the poultry- 

 keeper than to the game-preserver from the habit 

 above mentioned. 



Nature, I think, evidently intended the Kite as a 

 scavenger, and in the southern countries of Europe 

 the services of this and other species of birds in that 

 way are by no means unimportant, as they are the 

 only inspectors of nuisances, and have a strong, 

 though not a pecuniary, interest in their removal. 

 Literally nothing that any bird will eat comes amiss 

 to the Kite ; and from my acquaintance with him in 

 captivity, I am inclined to think that he prefers his 

 food somewhat high. I have seen a Kite devour 

 rotten cabbage-stalks, scraps of bread, potatoes, fish, 

 flesh, and fowl, fresh, high, and putrid, and com- 

 placently swallow pieces of stiff leather. The Black 

 Kite alluded to above is common in Spain and many 

 other parts of the continent, but has hitherto only 

 been met with once in this country, viz., at Alnwick, 

 Northumberland, in May 1866. 



10. COMMON BUZZARD. 



Buteo vulgaris. 



The Buzzard has in this county shared the fate 

 of the Kite, and is now a rare bird with us, though 

 still to be found in various parts of England, 

 Wales, and: Scotland, especially on the north and 

 south coasts of Devonshire, where it nests, and 

 where I have frequently observed it. I remember 



2D 



