THE COMMON BUZZARD 163 



pluck extraordinary the average Buzzard being a 

 cowardly fellow eject Carrion-Crows from their 

 new nest. 



A tree-nest, especially one built amongst ivy 

 and if, too, on a projecting bough, is sometimes 

 rather hard of access, for the bird often selects 

 some forest giant with a huge, limbless bole. On 

 inland crags, at any rate, the reverse is generally 

 in force : indeed, only on half a dozen occasions 

 at most have I had to requisition a rope, and a 

 short one at that, in order to reach an eyrie, and I 

 have climbed to dozens. In such simple spots, in 

 fact, are most eyries, that, to many, women and 

 children could climb or scramble with ease and 

 safety. This propensity to build, often quite 

 unnecessarily, in such stupid situations often 

 proves disastrous to the species, since many a 

 clutch of eggs, which would otherwise have 

 hatched, finds its way into the box of the dreaded 

 collector perhaps an indifferent cragsman or 

 else is pulverized beneath the iron-shod heel of 

 some brutally ignorant shepherd. Sheep dogs, 

 too, when they can, will devour the eggs ; Crows, 

 of course, and sometimes Ravens, prove a scourge 

 to the Buzzard in this respect. 



Nests vary a good deal in size, but tree-eyries 

 are generally the bulkiest and most substantial. 

 Some, indeed, from constant refitting, assume 

 quite gigantic proportions, becoming over a yard 

 in height and nearly three feet six inches across at 



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