12 Mr. A. G. More on the Distribution of Birds 



BuTEo VULGARIS [Beclist.). Common Buzzard. 



Provinces I.-VIII. X.-XVII. 



Subprovinces 2-8, 11, 12, 14, 15, 17-20, 22-25, 26-35. 



Lat. 50°-59°. "British'' type, or general. 



By no means common, and nearly exterminated in the eastern 

 and midland counties of England. Still breeds regularly in 

 several parts of the west and north of England and in Scotland, 

 where it has a better chance of escaping the vigilance of the 

 gamekeeper. 



Archibuteo lagopus {G.R. Gray). Rough-legged Buzzard. 



Provinces [X.] XV. 



Subprovinces (22), 31. 



Lat. 54°-58°. " Scottish" type. Not in Ireland. 



A single pair bred for several years in succession at Hackness, 

 where they appeared as summer visitors. 



Mr. Alwin S. Bell, of Scarborough, has kindly furnished the 

 following particulars : — " Mr. John Smith, who was gamekeeper 

 for twenty years on the estate of Sir J. V. B. Johnstone, remem- 

 bers the Rough-legged Buzzards perfectly well : there was no 

 mistake as to the species, as they were feathered right down to 

 the toe-ends. They used to breed, year after year, on the ground, 

 amongst the heather, in the moor-dells near Ash Hay Gill, 

 Whisperdale, about three miles from Hackness. One pair only 

 bred every year during most of the time that Mr. Smith was 

 keeper (twenty-four years ago). They were not seen except in 

 the breeding-season. Mr. Smith has himself shot them from the 

 nest, and remembers that they sometimes had young.'' 



Mr. Williamson, the Curator of the Museum at Scarborough, 

 confirms this statement, and remembers a male Rough-legged 

 Buzzard being trapped by the keeper and brought alive to 

 Scarborough. This bird escaped; but soon afterwards its mate 

 was shot ; and in the following spring the same male returned, 

 with another partner, when both were taken, and on the male was 

 found distinctly the mark inflicted by the trap. 



Mr. Thomas Edward, in his account of the Birds of Banffshire 

 (Zoologist, 1856, p. 5201), writes that the nest has been rarely 



