THE BUZZARD. 73 



until that season, we were told, had been for many years oocupied 

 by a pair of ravens (Corvus corax), which did not yield their 

 possession quietly, but fought hard, though in vain, against the 

 buzzards' usurpation. My companion being desirous of obtaining 

 the young birds, a man undertook to descend the rock for them 

 in the ordinary way, being secured from falling by a rope fastened 

 about his body, and held by persons above. However, from its 

 impending at the summit, this was rather perilous, and for greater 

 safety he preferred ascending from the base ; the preventive just 

 mentioned against accidents being in this case likewise resorted to. 

 When the least apprehension of danger was manifested, we endea- 

 voured to dissuade him altogether from the attempt, but his father, 

 an old gray-haired man, insisted, though gain was never thought of, 

 that he should not turn craven, and was so eager in leaning over the 

 cliff to direct his son's movements, that we verily feared his own life 

 would become a sacrifice ; but all expostulation was in vain. Three 

 young birds were taken ; a fourth escaped by flight. The climber 

 said the nest was composed of the strong stems of heather and 

 roots of grasses, and lined with the fur of hares and rabbits ; and 

 would have held several more than the four birds it contained. 

 The legs of rabbits and hares were lying about it. The buzzard 

 is said to be common in Donegal.* 



When at Macgilligan, in the county of Londonderry, in July, 

 1833, I observed a buzzard soaring about the basaltic precipices, 

 and flying from one pinnacle of rock to another, its young being 

 all the while very vociferous. The call of one of them loudly 

 heard above the others, being similar to that of the male bird 

 brought from Donegal in the preceding year, satisfied me respect- 

 ing the species. The continual and loud cry of the latter bird, as 

 we drove slowly from Dunfanaghy to the city of Londonderry, 

 proved ludicrously annoying to us, by giving evidence of the con- 

 tents of our baskets to the crowds of persons we met, — it being a 

 holiday, — and thus drawing their attention towards us. The 

 other two buzzards and the eagles, which shared the conveyance 

 with us, remained generally quiet. These three buzzards, but 

 * Mr. J. V. Stewart. 



