76 THE BIRDS OF THE WOODS 



fields. They will sometimes follow a man out shooting, and swoop down on 

 the small birds which have been flushed by the dog before the very eyes of its 

 master. When settling themselves for the night, the old birds fly all round their 

 own part of the forest with a peculiar cry, as though to make sure that everything 

 is safe before retiring to rest. 



The hobby, which may be distinguished from the peregrine by its smaller 

 proportions and rufous thighs, leaves the central districts of the Continent in 

 September or October, and returns in April ; in Germany it is never found in 

 large numbers, owing to the country being so poor in small birds ; but it is said 

 to be common in the lower parts and steppes of the Urals and in the Dobrudscha. 

 It ranges from Lapland, within the Arctic circle, to Cape Colony, and from the 

 Atlantic to Kamchatka; and, on migration, to the Canaries. To India it is a 

 well-known winter visitor. 



The commonest eagle of central Europe is the small screaming 

 or spotted species (Aqaila ncevia), which prefers forests of deciduous 

 trees to pine-woods, and generally builds in a beech-tree ; its favourite haunts 

 being extensive marshes, large lakes, and wooded meadows, although it some- 

 times appears in treeless districts, but never far from water. The nest is always 

 in lofty trees, occasionally in a birch, alder, or oak, and quite exceptionally in a 

 pine ; it is always placed where a gap in the trees gives an easy way of escape ; 

 and the same nest is often used for many years, though it may sometimes be left 

 for another made close by. Like that of some other birds-of-prey, it is lined with 

 green twigs — in this case generally sprigs of beech — and is always built in hilly 

 situations. Often it contains but one egg, sometimes two, and rarely three. 



In habits the spotted eagle is like most of its tribe, although it lacks their 

 swift and powerful flight. It preys on frogs, lizards, and snakes, occasionally on fish, 

 and on small mammals and birds, especially when they have young. Breeding in the 

 north German plains and the Baltic provinces, it is also found in Poland, Hungary, 

 western Russia, the Dobrudscha, and Turkey, as well as now and then in Greece. 

 It is but seldom seen in Italy, Switzerland, or France ; neither is it often met with 

 in western Asia, the river Don being apparently the boundary of its eastward 

 range. From north Germany, where it is never seen in winter, this species 

 migrates south in the middle of September, and returns at the beginning of April, 

 its migration taking it down the Nile Valley to Abyssinia, if not further. 



The buzzards, which are spread all over Europe, Asia, and North 

 America, are represented by about twenty different species, and have 

 the tail about half the length of the wings. They live principally on mice, but not 

 unf requently kill larger mammals ; they rob the falcon of its prey, while to catch a 

 mole they will wait for hours near its hill, and now and then will even scratch 

 it up with their claws. They also eat insects and frogs, and poisonous snakes 

 and other reptiles. 



The typical species is the common buzzard (Buteo vulgaris), which lives in 

 the woods of both the plains and the hills, especially in the neighbourhood of corn- 

 fields. In spring its haunt is within the forests, but in autumn it is found on 



