BIRDS 



Tostock nest was in all likelihood an old 

 carrion-crow's, as these birds used to frequent 

 the place where it was found. 



119. Rough-legged Buzzard. Buteo lagopus 



(J. F. Gmelin) 

 A winter migrant, almost as irregular as 

 the waxwing, as in some seasons a good many 

 have occurred, and in many winters not one 

 has been recorded. 1876 and 1891 were 

 rough-legged buzzard years, the former year 

 especially, when these birds were met with 

 all over the county. They vary in plumage 

 a good deal, but are usually lighter in colour 

 than the common buzzard, and * a bird in the 

 hand ' can be recognized at once by the 

 feathered legs. The rough-legged buzzard 

 has not been known to breed in the British 

 Islands. 



120. Spotted Eagle. Aquila maculata (J. F. 



Gmelin) 

 Of eleven British specimens of this bird 

 two belong to Suffolk, both of which were 

 obtained in the autumn of 1891. The first 

 was shot at Sudbourne near Orford early in 

 November, and beautifully set up for its owner 

 by Messrs. Pratt of Brighton ; the second at 

 Reydon near Southwold in December, details 

 of both being recorded in the Field at the time 

 of the occurrences. The spotted eagle is a 

 small eagle with feathered legs and more or less 

 spotted with white on the upper parts. 



121. White-tailed Eagle. Haliaitus alhicilla 



(Linn.) 

 An occasional autumn and winter visitant, 

 often recorded as the golden eagle. The young 

 golden eagle has a good deal of white on the 

 tail, while the young white-tailed eagle has a 

 dark brown tail, but the two birds can be dis- 

 tinguished at a glance by the legs, which in 

 the golden eagle are feathered to the toes and 

 in the white-tailed eagle are bare to the joint. 

 Many collections contain a local specimen of 

 the latter, but there is no satisfactory record 

 of the occurrence of the golden eagle in 

 Suffolk, and it is very rare to meet with it 

 south of the Scottish border. 



122. Goshawk, jistur palumbarius (Linn.) 

 A very rare autumn and winter visitant, of 



which the last occurrence was at Somerleyton 

 in March, 1894. The goshawk may be de- 

 scribed as a gigantic sparrow-hawk, with pro- 

 portionately shorter and stouter legs, and like 

 that species has bright orange-yellow eyes. 



123. Sparrow-Hawk. Accipiter nisus (Linn.) 

 A resident, breeding throughout the county, 



but rarely allowed to bring off its young, as it 



bears an evil repute as a destroyer of young 

 game. The nest is sometimes built by the 

 birds themselves and sometimes an old one 

 belonging to some other bird, but is invari- 

 ably on a tree, never in rocks or buildings. 

 Few birds lay more beautifiil eggs, and a 

 clutch well covered with chestnut - red 

 blotches is an ornament to any collection. 

 There are many records of the sparrow- 

 hawk's migration on the east coast. 



124. Kite. Milvus ictinus, Savigny. 



This magnificent bird is now very rare, 

 but Dr. Babington's statement that it ' for- 

 merly bred ' is doubtless quite correct, as there 

 are many places in the county suited to its 

 habits. The last kite obtained in SuflFolk 

 was one at Frostenden in February, 1901 

 (W. M. Crowfoot). In the autumn of 188 1 

 large birds of prey were met with in un- 

 usual numbers, and a female kite was picked 

 up dead, but perfectly fresh, on the shore near 

 Aldeburgh, of which particulars are given in 

 the Zoologist for 1884 (p. i). 



125. Honey-Buzzard. Pernis apivorus(Linn.) 



A summer visitant, which has often nested 

 in other parts of England, the New Forest 

 especially, but there is no mention of its ever 

 having attempted to do so in East Anglia. 

 The honey - buzzard varies a good deal in 

 plumage, but the long wings and rather small 

 but brilliant yellow eye are always distinguish- 

 ing marks. A very fine old female shot near 

 Bury on 1 1 June, 1888, which had been feed- 

 ing on unfledged birds and blackbirds' eggs, is 

 now in the Tostock rectory collection. 



126. Greenland Falcon. Falco candicans{J.F. 



Gmelin) 



Dr. Babington {Catalogue, p. 230) gives de- 

 tails of three occurrences, all in east Suffolk. 



127. Gyr-Falcon. Falco gyrfalco, hinn. 



An immature specimen was shot at Orford 

 in October, 1867, an excellent photograph of 

 which is given in Dr. Babington's Catalogue. 

 Suckling, in his History and Antiquities of the 

 County of Suffolk mentions (ii. 236) that King 

 John in return for his grant of certain privi- 

 leges received from the inhabitants of Dun- 

 wich ten falcons and five gyr-falcons, in addi- 

 tion to a payment of money. 



128. Peregrine Falcon. Falco peregrinus, 



Tunstall. 



Almost every autumn and winter one or 



two peregrines are sent into Bury to be stuffed, 



and they are certainly the least rare of the 



large hawks. The great majority of those 



195 



