THE BIRDS OF PREY. 211 



largely of reptiles and large insects, as grasshoppers. 

 It is also known to devour the eggs of wild birds. A 

 smaller and darker bird than the last, it has the wings 

 proportionately longer, the tail being also barred. The 

 nest is on the ground among the heather or sedges. Egg*, 

 somewhat smaller and paler than those of the last. 



Rarer every year, the large and handsome Buzzard* still 

 breeds in a few western districts of Great Britain and 

 Ireland. The district of the Broads was once 

 its favourite haunt in these islands, but it 

 has been sacrificed to the preservation of game. As, how- 

 ever, it is by no means one of the most active, and 

 as it is certainly among the least courageous, of our 

 raptorial birds, there is some reason to doubt whether 

 it does much damage among the pheasants. This buzzard 

 is of large size, some examples being dark, others much 

 lighter, all having bars on the tail. Nests of this bird are 

 found in lofty trees or cliffs, and consist of twigs and 

 leaves. They are very bulky. Eggs, 3 or 4, 2 % inches ; 

 dull white, with reddish spots and blotches. Both sexes 

 incubate. 



The Rough -legged Buzzard, in which the legs are 



feathered to the toe, occurs every winter, its visits being 



t Rough- measured by the number shot, for it is of 



legged those visitors never recorded as observed. 



Buzzard. Q uite recent jy (March 1897) one was shot 

 in Yorkshire by one of Lord Feversham's keepers. Not 

 more than half-a-dozen have been recorded from Ireland, 

 and the various reports that have at one time or other 

 been credited are disposed of by Mr Saunders and others 

 as impositions. 



Spotted Eagle. A rare straggler from Southern Europe, 

 four examples of which have occurred in England and two 

 in Ireland. The smaller Continental form is not known 

 to visit these islands. 



