606 NOTES FROM THE 



over. In the plain of Laxenburg the Steppe-Harrier (Circus 

 pallidus) is the only one that remains, and it occurs but very 

 rarely ; on the 25th of October I shot one at the Eagle-Owl 

 hut. Both the Marsh-Harrier (C.ceruginosus) and Montagu's 

 Harrier ( C. cineraceus) , however, left the district altogether 

 at the end of September, and in October there was not one of 

 them to be seen. 



The Common Buzzard (Buteo vulgaris) took up its abode 

 here during the autumn in fairly large numbers. One of 

 them hunts every day in the meadows in front of my windows 

 and is remarkably tame. 



The Rough-legged Buzzard (Buteo lagopus) came earlier 

 than usual, for the first were seen before the 15th of October, 

 and by the 20th their migration had reached its height. On 

 that date I rode in the morning straight across country from 

 Laxenburg to Fischamend on the Danube, returning in the 

 afternoon, and it must have been an especially favourable day 

 for the passage of the raptorial birds, for on the way I saw 

 the " Stein" Eagle already mentioned, more than thirty 

 Rough-legged Buzzards, several Common Buzzards, a Pere- 

 grine Falcon, a Saker (Falco laniarius), several Merlins 

 (F cesalon), and one or two Pallid Harriers. 



The Kestrels are still here, but not in such abundance as 

 before ; but to make up for them there are more Sparrow- 

 Hawks (Astur nisus) and Goshawks (A. palumbarius) . 



On the 21st some Rough-legged Buzzards came to the 

 Eagle-Owl hut, but not so many as the numbers seen on the 

 previous day would have led one to expect. On the 24th 

 there was another very large flight of these birds ; on the 

 25th I only observed one ; but it was a very good day for 

 Falcons, for I saw three Sakers at the Owl, one of which 

 stooped well and was shot, and an old specimen of the Peregrine, 

 which I also bagged. 



