ago its partiality for Ducks and Pigeons at the Tyne estuary, where a fine specimen formed a 

 marked object for some months before being taken. As the birds on which it was occasionally 

 seen feeding were full-grown, they may have been wounded, and tbus have fallen an easy prey. 

 I can hardly think any Buzzard strong enough to pursue and kill a Wild Duck of any species. 

 Messrs. Baikie and Heddle state that this bird is an occasional visitant in Orkney ; and it is 

 likewise known to be a straggler in some parts of Shetland." 



In Ireland, according to Thompson, it is resident in suitable localities ; and Professor Newton 

 states, on the authority of Mr. Waiters, that it was the most abundant of the larger birds of 

 prey there. 



It has not been recorded from Greenland or Iceland; but Mr. H. C. Miiller obtained a 

 specimen in the Fseroes, which he says was shot on the Kollefiord in September 1869. It is 

 found in Scandinavia, but is of very rare occurrence. Mr. Collett records only two instances of 

 its occurrence in Norway — one in Christiania in 1825, and another at Frederiksstad in 1839. 



In Sweden it is commoner than in Norway. Nilsson says that it breeds annually on the 

 larger lakes in Southern Skane, as, for instance, at Nasbyholm &c. According to Wallengren it 

 nests also in the districts of Nosaby and Opmanna ; and Malmlen speaks of it as being common 

 at Gothenburg. It does not appear to have occurred in Finland; but it is not uncommon in 

 Russia. Mr. Sabanaeff says that it breeds in the Jaroslaf Government, and more frequently in 

 the Moscow, Tula, and Tamboff Governments, but does not occur in Vologda ; it is tolerably 

 common on the Volga and Kama rivers; and he found it numerous on the eastern slopes of 

 the Ural ; but it must be rare, he adds, north of Ekaterinburg. Teplouhoff, however, met with 

 it on the Obva in 57-^° N. lat. Mr. Taczanowski writes that it is common in Poland in summer, 

 arriving early in March and leaving late in September. According to Borggreve it is found in 

 all marshy districts in North Germany during the summer, but avoids the mountains. He found 

 it common in the eastern districts ; and it is said to be numerous in Mecklenburg, East Friesland, 

 and Oldenburg, but is not known to breed in Miinsterland. Mr. J. Collin says that it is found 

 here and there in Denmark from March to October, but retires to warmer localities for the 

 winter. It breeds in many parts of Holland and Belgium, especially in the large marshes of the 

 Campine and Flanders, and is found throughout France in marshy localities, and breeds in the 

 Camargue, at the mouth of the Rhone. Professor Barboza du Bocage records it as being common 

 in Portugal in suitable localities ; and it is abundant throughout Spain, positively swarming in 

 the marshes of the Guadalquivir. Mr. A. von Homeyer also says that it breeds numerously in 

 the Balearic Islands. 



In Savoy it occurs only on passage, and does not remain to breed there ; and in Italy it is 

 numerous not only in the marshes but in the Campagna, and is also common in Sicily and 

 Sardinia. In the latter island, Mr. A. B. Brooke writes (Ibis, 1 873, p. 154), the Marsh-Harrier 

 is " very common about the plains ; and round in the neigbourhood of Oristano they swarm. A 

 nest I found in the end of April was built in the middle of a reedy marshy lake, placed halfway 

 up the stems of the reeds, just clear of the water ; the bottom was formed of rough coarse sticks, 

 and the interior of dried matted rushes, in some cases with the roots attached, the egg lying 

 carelessly in the middle. Out of all the numbers that passed under my notice, I never observed 

 any, excepting in the dark brown plumage with the yellow head, a few showing buff markings, 



