Birds. 1053 



Sparrow-hawk, Accipiter Nisus. 



Kite, Milvus vulgaris. A rare bird in this country. 



Common Buzzard, Buteo vulgaris. Mr. Graves has included this 

 species in the list of birds published in his f History of Cleveland.' It 

 is only occasionally seen in this vicinity. 



Rough-legged Buzzard, Buteo lagopus. A very rare visitor in the 

 north of England. The specimen in the Newcastle Museum men- 

 tioned by Mr. Selby in his Catalogue, p. 248, No. 15, is, I believe, the 

 same which I have recorded in my Catalogue of the Birds near Stock- 

 ton, No. 7. " Several have been shot in the neighbourhood of Hunt- 

 cliff: a fine specimen is in the possession of Thomas Hutchinson, 

 Esq., Brotton."— J. G. 



Honey-buzzard, Pernis apivorus. I could wish to exclude the vul- 

 gar name of Aow^-buzzard, for it only tends to perpetuate an error, 

 since it is well known that the bird never eats honey. Ray called it 

 " Buteo apivorus seu vespivorus" as if it fed solely on bees and wasps. 

 Being an insectivorous as well as a carnivorous species, T have long 

 named it larvivoms, because it is most fond of the larva of bees and 

 wasps.* Therefore the gentle buzzard is, I consider, a very apt Eng- 

 lish name for it ; gentle being, as all disciples of honest Isaac Walton 

 need not be told — a maggot. The two preceding species of Buteo are 

 entirely carnivorous. Mr. J. Grey has a stuffed specimen which was 

 shot near Elwick. 



Marsh Harrier, Cercus ceruginosus. Usually named the moor-buz- 

 zard. I have in different years seen this bird in the autumn frequent- 

 ing the bare limestone cliffs of the Durham coast. It sits perched on 

 a rock and watches the sea-birds, till an opportunity occurs of seizing 

 one for its prey. It is here vulgarly called the " duck-haivk" and 

 comes from the moors to the sea-coast in search of water-fowl. I have 

 noticed that the younger birds are without the yellowish-white mark 

 on the top of the head, (see Bewick's figure, vol. i. p. 19, edit. 1797) ; 

 and have only a greyish or light-coloured spot on the throat. It is a 

 remarkably active and elegant species. Pennant states that " it also 

 preys, like the osprey, upon fish : " this, then, affords another reason 

 why it migrates to the coast. The gamekeepers on some of our moors 

 hunt this bird with pointers in the spring, for the purpose of finding 

 its nest; having marked the spot, they afterwards shoot the old birds, 

 and destroy their eggs or brood. 



Hen Harrier, Cercus cyaneus. The name harrier was applied to 

 this species, either from its usually flying low, and carefully skimming 

 * It also eats bees in the perfect state. See Zool. 793. — Ed. 



