CHAP, x.] BUZZARDS. 89 



fied her hunger, this bird will sit for hours perfectly motionless 

 on some withered branch, or on a projecting corner of rock, 

 whence she commands a good view of the surrounding country, 

 and can easily detect the approach of danger. A cowardly bird, 

 except when excited by hunger, she submits patiently to the 

 attacks of the smaller birds, and flies from the magpie or jackdaw. 

 Like the kite, the raven, the eagle, and all birds who feed much 

 on carrion, the buzzard has a lofty flight when in search of food. 

 Soaring high up in the air, and wheeling in circles, she appears 

 to examine the surface of the land for miles and miles, in hopes 

 of detecting some dead sheep or other carcass. The buzzard 

 evinces little cunning in avoiding traps, and is easily caught. I 

 have found their nests, containing from three to four large and 

 nearly white eggs, in different situations ; sometimes built on 

 rocks, and at other times in the brandies of a tree, at no great 

 height from the ground. She sits close, and will allow the near 

 approach of a passer by, before she leaves her eggs. Though she 

 is one of the most ignoble of the hawk kind, I have a lingering 

 affection for this bird, in consequence of her being connected in 

 my remembrances with the rocky burns and hanging woods of the 

 most romantic glens in the Highlands, where I have frequently 

 fallen in with her nest and young. In this part of the country the 

 bu/zard has become very rare, and is only seen as an occasional 

 visitor. 



