THE BUZZARDS OF THE DOONE COUNTRY 29 



some awkward portion, such as a hind leg, he endeavours with his disengaged 

 foot to grasp its head, and if he succeeds, any struggles on the part of the victim 

 are hopeless. 



One might be justified in terming a Buzzard ' dastardly,' if it should 

 chance to grip one's naked hand in its vice-like clutch. 



Buzzards feed upon moles to quite a considerable extent, and easily pick 

 up these little animals in the dry summer weather, but the writer's experiences 

 would point to the fact that they prefer rabbit to any other food. It is a 

 quaint fact that the Buzzard will attack such modest opponents as lizards and 

 Moles, with as much fierceness and impetuosity as he does the strongest rabbits ; 

 although in the case of the smaller quarry he, in his ardour, usually grasps 

 handfuls of grass, among which the victim is literally crushed to death ! 



So the Buzzard might — from our point of view — be described as ' simple,' 

 and perhaps also unnecessarily provident, when it is told that in spite of his 

 comparatively clumsy flight, he contrives to carry to the nest food far in excess 

 of the requirements of his family. 



The Buzzard's special forte — where flying is concerned — is soaring — and 

 he soars more beautifully than any other British bird. The question how a 

 bird can, without any appreciable effort, travel in such circles and gradually 

 rise to such vast heights has often been raised. 



It would seem, to the writer, that the reason that the Buzzard is able to 

 do this more successfully than the other hawks is that he has a relatively smaU 

 body and unusual spread of wing — ^that he takes advantage of the least 

 breeze, and mounts in the air very much after the maimer of a kite. He seems 

 to allow himself, with wings full spread, to drift on the breeze for a distance — 

 — ^then with the impetus so gained, he describes a large curve until he is facing 

 the wind, in which position he is carried slightly upwards. As he loses 

 his momentum, he describes the other half of his circle, and traveUing 

 with the wind for a while, again gathers sufficient impetus for another turn 

 against it. 



Sparrow-Hawks and Kestrels also soar, but not nearly to the same extent, 

 and generally flap their wings when travelling on the downward side of the 

 circle, in order to gain the required amount of impetus to carry them upwind. 



In any case, a soaring Buzzard is a most impressive sight, and may easily 

 be mistaken — ^in a possible district — ^for a Golden Eagle. 



Buzzards commence to build in about the beginning of May, often on 

 the ledge of a cMff overhanging the sea, but at times among the upper branches 

 of a deciduous tree, perhaps most frequently in an ash. They retm-n annually 

 to the same breeding-areas, like the majority of our hawks, and in consequence, 

 if the enthusiast spends much of his time in a district which they inhabit, he 

 will probably have little difficulty in discovering a nest, if he should desire to do 

 so, for the Buzzard cannot be considered a rare bird. 



