HAWKS AND OWLS. 7 



" swoops " he wheeled a little further off than before, and 

 of this the woodcock took immediate advantage ; for, twisting 

 over the bank and hedge, he got a good start and went at 

 his best pace towards the covert, now about three hundred 

 yards distant. He passed close to us, but in our anxiety to 

 get the hawk we refrained from shooting him. The pere- 

 grine at once mounted high, but out of shot, and pursued his 

 quarry, now half-way to his haven and going at a much 

 greater rate than I ever thought a woodcock capable of. 

 The hawk gained visibly, but finally the woodcock darted 

 into the thick covert a few yards ahead of his pursuer, who 

 did not follow him. I now thought the cock would fall an 

 easy victim to the gun, but not so ; for, getting up very wild, 

 he made his escape after all without being fired at." Truly 

 a hard-fought day for the woodcock ! 



Closely resembling the larger falcon is the common 

 buzzard ; but there is one certain way to distinguish them. 

 While the peregrine's neck is marked by a boldly contrasted 

 black and white collar, that of the buzzard is shaded off 

 between the two predominant body colours. Both birds are 

 dark above and light below. In character, however, they 

 are very different. This latter hawk, the "puttock" of 

 Essex hinds, is, to tell the truth, somewhat a sluggard in 

 habits. It is even suggested by Johnson in his Dictionary 

 " buzzard " carries some indignity with it, and Milton uses 

 the word as equivalent to stupidity. Morris in his " British 

 Birds " has reason on his side, however, in refusing to accept 

 such views. Bewick, one of its earliest detractors, declares 

 the puttock is no match for a sparrowhawk, but Bewick 

 was unquestionably misled in this matter. 



More a bird of the high woods than the cliff face or sea 

 shore, no doubt it often takes to a rocky ledge or cleft in 

 a " scar," but for the most part the nest is found, or rather 

 was once found, in high beech trees and the like, on knolls 

 and hillocks, in such broad and ample forests as those of 

 Hampshire or Yorkshire. From these and similar districts 



