48 HAWK NOTES 



with wings arched back, a few yards over 

 the rabbit runs through the gorse and 

 the bracken. A fairly steady breeze is 

 needed to keep them stable. I have watched 

 for more than a minute a buzzard hanging 

 thus, moving only its tail. The secret of 

 its poising is that it Jails continually on the 

 wind, pressing its breast into the flow to 

 counteract the lifting impulse of its wings. 



Once I saw a buzzard glide down a hill 

 at about eight miles an hour, a yard from 

 the ground, its feet hanging below, ready 

 to grasp something. Its slow slip down- 

 wards (" glide " would convey too rapid 

 a motion) amazed me it might have been 

 sliding on a wire. Eventually it alighted, 

 and rose with a lashing snake. The reptile 

 was too much for it; the buzzard rushed 

 about in middle air, turning and screaming. 

 Eventually the snake fell to the ground. 



I know an eyrie in a pine wood com- 

 posed of nearly two hundredweight of sticks. 

 It is about seven feet across, and quite as 



