24 BIRDS OF SOMERSETSHIRE. 



COMMON BUZZARD, Buteo vulgaris. The Common 

 Buzzard must at one time have been very plentiful 

 in this part of the county, as it continues to resist 

 the attacks of the gamekeepers, and still remains in 

 some numbers. I have had, within the last few 

 years, several specimens sent me by the late Mr. 

 Esdaile, which had been trapped by his keeper at 

 Cothelstone. I have also seen a good many in the 

 flesh at Mrs. Turle's, some of which had been sent 

 from the neighbourhood of Monksilver, and some 

 from that of Pixton. I have also occasionally seen 

 a Buzzard when out hunting on the Quantocks, so it 

 seems to be tolerably widely spread over the western 

 part of the county. 



I do not much wonder at keepers endeavouring to 

 wage a war of extermination against the Buzzard, as 

 it is undoubtedly a destructive bird to all sorts of 

 game, taking its food, like the Kite, from the ground. 

 Montagu says of this bird that it never pursues its 

 prey on the wing, but is contented with young hares, 

 rabbits and feathered game : in default, however, of 

 such food, it will eat carrion, and even worms and 

 beetles, and occasionally snakes.* Yarrell takes 

 notice of the same peculiarity in the Common Buz- 

 zard which I have remarked in the Kestrel, namely, 



* A blind snake and a mole only found in the stomach. 

 See note by Mr. E. H. Rodd, in the 'Zoologist' for 1865, 

 p. 9417. 



