ROUGH-LEGGED BUZZARD. 31 



1858, when they were again numerous ; and between 

 October and January of the following year, about twenty 

 specimens were obtained, principally in the neighbour- 

 hood of Thetford and Yarmouth. A fine male from 

 Hickling in January, 1859, had a mouse and the remains 

 of a rabbit in its stomach. Still more recently, in the 

 autumn and winter of 1862-3, several fine specimens 

 were killed in different parts of the county, one of 

 which contained the recently swallowed remains of a 

 skylark, with its long claws, legs, and beak quite perfect, 

 presenting a decidedly uncomfortable and indigestible 

 appearance. The following curious anecdote is extracted 

 from a MS. volume, relating to the fauna of Yarmouth 

 and its environs, now in the possession of Sir W. J. 

 Hooker, K.H., who most kindly allowed me a perusal 

 of it, and from which I am enabled to supply many 

 interesting notes relating to this district :* " On Friday, 

 December 6th, 1816, the Holkham shooting party re- 

 paired to Warham, and were followed during the greater 

 part of the day by a bird of prey, which constantly 

 attended their motions, and was repeatedly fired at 

 while hovering over their heads, without betraying the 

 smallest symptoms of apprehension and alarm, even 

 though the shot was heard to rattle on its feathers. In 

 the afternoon it descended on a tree, where it allowed 

 Mr. Coke, attended by a boy holding a dead pheasant 

 dangling in his hand, to approach sufficiently near to 

 get a shot at it, which brought it to the ground. It 

 proved to be a most beautiful female specimen of that 

 rare bird the F. lagopus, or rough-legged buzzard, 

 measuring very nearly five feet across the wings, and 

 two feet one inch in length. The male bird had attended 



* " Memoranda touching the Natural History of Yarmouth and 

 its environs, from 1807 to 1840, by Sir W. J. Hooker, K.H., Thos. 

 Penrice, Esq., Mr. Lilly Wigg, Kev. John Burrell, Kev. E. B. 

 Francis, and Dawson Turner, Esq." 



