COMMON BUZZARD. Ill 



a nest in the forked branches of a tree in a large wood : the 

 materials with which the nest is made, or repaired, are 

 similar to those that have been already named. 



The female lays two or three, and sometimes four eggs, 

 of a short oval form, measuring from 2'32 to 2 by 1*86 to 

 1*58 in., and greatly resembling those of the Red Kite 

 already described, but seldom if ever presenting any trace of 

 the violet tints which the latter not unfrequently exhibit. 

 Both parent birds attend upon and feed their young with 

 great assiduity ; and Willughby says, that the male Buzzard 

 will brood the offspring if the hen is killed, as is the case 

 with many kinds of birds. The young accompany the 

 parents for some little time after they quit the nest ; and 

 White of Selborne adds, that they follow their dam with a 

 piping and wailing noise. 



The partiality of this species to the task of incubation 

 and rearing young birds has been exemplified in various 

 instances, one of the latest being mentioned by Mr. Rocke 

 (Zool. p. 9686). Many years ago a female Buzzard, kept in 

 a garden at Uxbridge, showed an inclination to sit by collect- 

 ing all the loose sticks she could obtain. Her owner, noticing 

 her actions, supplied her with materials ; she completed her 

 nest, and sat on two hen's eggs, which she hatched, and 

 afterwards reared the young. For some years afterwards 

 she thus hatched and brought up a brood of chickens 

 annually. One summer, to save her the fatigue of sitting, 

 some young chickens just hatched were put down to her ; 

 but she destroyed the whole. Her family in June, 1831, 

 consisted of nine. When flesh was given to her, she was 

 very assiduous in tearing and offering it as food to her 

 nurslings. 



Though far more rare now than formerly, an enumeration of 

 the counties in which this bird yet continues to breed is hardly 

 necessary. In the eastern and midland parts, however, as as- 

 certained by Mr. More a few years ago, it has been nearly exter- 

 minated, though migratory examples not unfrequently occur 

 in autumn. In the west and north of Great Britain, except- 

 ing the Outer Hebrides, the Orkneys and Shetlands, it still 



