COMMON BUZZARD. 119 



during the breeding-season it is necessary to visit the forests of North 

 Germany, where it is still a common bird, by far the commonest bird of 

 prey. The Prussian foresters are well educated, and understand the dif- 

 ference between destructive and harmless birds. The Buzzard breeds on 

 the outskirts of the forests, whence it issues in search of food, and may 

 often be seen perched on the bare hill-sides, waiting for mice and other 

 small mammals, or may be observed crossing the open fields with some- 

 what heavy and indolent flight. It is equally common in dry as in swampy 

 woods, and breeds in pine-forests as freely as in those of beech or oak. • In 

 the forests near Brunswick I found the nests mostly in beech and oak ; but 

 in Pomerania many were in Scotch firs, one in a birch, and one in an elm. 

 Many Buzzards remain in North Germany during the winter ; but most 

 leave for warmer climes in September and October, returning to their 

 breeding-grounds about the middle of March. The Buzzard builds a nest 

 from one and a half to two feet in diameter, and, if it is in the fork of a 

 tree, sometimes nearly as high. The foundation is of large twigs, finished 

 at the top with slender twigs. It is very flat, the hollow in the middle 

 containing the eggs about the size and depth of a soup-plate. The final 

 lining is fresh green leaves, generally beech ; but in one nest, although it 

 was in a beech tree, the lining was green larch-twigs. This lining must 

 be renewed from time to time. Out of eleven nests near Brunswick, five 

 of which contained eggs, five young birds, and one three eggs and a young 

 bird, all but one were lined with fresh leaves. The one that had no green 

 lining was the last we examined, and contained three very large young 

 birds. This was also the only nest containing young which did not also 

 contain some food, and the only nest where we saw nothing of the parent 

 birds; they were no doubt absent in search of food to satisfy the vora- 

 cious appetites of their three children, and had probably no time to spare 

 to renew the lining. What the obj ect of this fresh lining of green leaves 

 can be I do not know. We never found any birds in the larder. One 

 nest contained a blindworm in two pieces, and two short-tailed field-mice. 

 A second nest contained a frog and half a long-tailed field-mouse. A third 

 contained no fewer than eleven short-tailed field-mice ; whilst a fourth nest, 

 containing three young, was supplied with six large short-tailed field-mice 

 and seven smaller ones. A fifth nest, containing only one young bird, also 

 contained a mole and a long-tailed field-mouse. The nests varied from 50 

 to 90 feet from the ground ; but some, to which we did not attempt to 

 climb, were higher. In Pomerania I saw several nests in Scotch firs, not 

 more than 25 feet from the ground. My friend Dr. Holland, who has 

 paid great attention to the birds of prey in Pomerania for many years, 

 informs me that the Buzzard begins to lay about the middle of April (I 

 took eggs, all highly incubated, near Brunswick, between the 4th and 17th 

 of May) , that the period of incubation lasts three weeks^ and that the male 



