BUZZARD 203 



too, like the harriers, although once common, and still called in 

 books the common buzzard, is a vanishing species. Howard 

 Saunders writes : ' Fifty years ago it used to breed in Norfolk and 

 in other counties abounding in partridges and ground game, without 

 being considered incompatible with their existence ; but with the 

 increase of pheasant-worship the doom of the buzzard was sealed, 

 for, the larger the " hawk," the worse it must necessarily be ! ' 



My one consolation in this sad portion of my work, which tells 

 of the noble and useful species whose ' doom is sealed,' is, that I am 

 not writing for grown men, but for the young, who are not yet the 

 slaves of a contemptible convention, nor have come under a system 

 which has been only too mildly described as ' stupid ' by every 

 British ornithologist during the last five or six decades. 



This once common bird is now almost unknown in England, 

 and must be sought for in the wildest forest districts of Wales and 

 Scotland. It is of a somewhat sedentary disposition, and in seeking 

 its food displays little of the dashing and courageous spirit of the 

 falcons. Small mammals, especially moles, reptiles, birds of various 

 kinds, and insects, are its prey, which in all cases it drops upon and 

 seizes on the ground. It is strongly attached to one favourite spot, 

 and will return day after day to the same perch, where it will sit 

 for hours at a stretch. All the buzzards show best when flying, 

 and the appearance of the present species was thus described by 

 Sir William Jardine : ' The flight is slow and majestic ; the birds 

 rise in easy and graceful gyrations, often to an immense height, 

 uttering occasionally their shrill and melancholy whistle. At this 

 time, to a spectator underneath, and in particular lights, they appear 

 of immense size ; the motions of the tail when directing the circles 

 may be plainly perceived, as well as the beautiful markings on it 

 and the wings, sometimes rendered very plain and distinct by the 

 body being thrown upwards, and the light falling on the clear and 

 silvery tints of the base of the feathers. The buzzard is a fine 

 accompaniment to the landscape, whether sylvan or wild and rocky.' 



It nests both on crags and in forest trees, and sometimes makes 

 use of the old nest of some other bird. The nest is of sticks, and 

 is sometimes very large, lined with wool or some other soft mate- 

 rial, and often with green leaves. Two to four eggs are laid, but 

 three is the usual number. They vary from white, suffused with 

 reddish brown, to bluish green, spotted, streaked, and clouded with 

 reddish brown, with purple-grey under-markings. 



