Birds. 491 



to a well wooded country, and consequently is often to be found about us. It builds 

 occasionally in our wood, and makes prey of much larger birds than the hobby; young 

 partridges are the most common food. It is not nearly however so often seen as the 

 hobby. 3. The Kestril, Falco Tinnunculus. This little hawk is extremely common, 

 more so than any other raptorial bird. It feeds principally on mice, sometimes on chaf- 

 fers. Its manner of hovering in the air is remarkable, and the rustics call it " wind- 

 hover.'' It is very easily tamed. 4. The Sparrow-hawk, Accipiter fringillarius. This 

 hawk is more uncommon about us than any of the preceding, with the exception of 

 the hobby. It is very bold, and often approaches the farm-yards for the purpose of 

 picking up a stray chicken : it is very hard to be tamed. 6. Common Buzzard, Buteo 

 vulgaris. This bird is rather common about our woods : it is a great coward, and is 

 seldom seen without a mob of small birds following it. It breeds early in the year, 

 and feeds its young principally on young birds. 6. The Kite, Milvus regalis. This 

 bird formerly was very common, but of late has much decreased in numbers; still, 

 however, it is not uncommon to see it wheeling in circles almost out of sight, or drift- 

 ing away on the winds. It does not often breed with us. It is very destructive to 

 young game. 7. The White Owl, Strix flammea. This bird is common enough. I 

 once caught an old bird sitting, and having hatched the eggs on a stove, gave the 

 young to the hen, but she made a meal of them both. — W. P. Heaihcote ; Hursley 

 Park y near Winchester, January, 1844. 



Note on the occurrence of the Goshawk off Yarmouth. A goshawk, which had alight- 

 ed on the rigging of a ship, was brought in here towards the end of November last. — 

 Wm. R. Fisher ; Yarmouth, January, 1844. 



Note on the Merlin Hawk. I have been surprised at the inattention of this bird to 

 the presence of man, an instance of which occurred a few days ago : one perched in a 

 tree a short distance from our house, I went on to the grass-plot and stood within 

 twenty yards of it, apparently unnoticed. A man was sent for a gun whilst I stood 

 watching it. Not having a gun at hand, the man went a considerable distance, and 

 had nearly returned, before it very deliberately flew into an adjoining garden. The 

 only way of accounting for this singular conduct is, that most probably many of these 

 hawks are bred in some northern part of Europe, where they are undisturbed by man. 

 John Heppenstall ; Sheffield. 



Anecdote of the Kestril Hawk. I saw the other day, near the Strand, the collection 

 of birds and animals called, I believe, the " Happy Family." I was much pleased at 

 seeing one of the kestrils employed in pulling a piece of raw meat into small portions, 

 and feeding with it some starlings and a blackbird, its fellow-prisoners. It was ra- 

 ther a novel sight to me to see a hawk thus employed. — Fred. Bond; Kingsbury, No- 

 vember 23, 1843. 



Note on the occurrence of the Rough-legged Buzzard at Hull. I have just received 

 a fine specimen of Falco lagopus, which was shot a few days ago in this neighbour- 

 hood. — G. Norman; Hull, November 1, 1843. 



Note on the Honey-buzzard. The readers of * The Zoologist ' have, I have no 

 doubt, been much gratified by the interesting papers recently communicated on the 

 Natural History of the honey-buzzard, by Mr. Fisher and Mr. Wilmot ; and I would 

 take leave to suggest that the latter gentleman would confer an additional favor upon 

 those ornithologists who are interested in the still obscure history of this very curious 

 bird, if he could furnish them, through * The Zoologist,' with the particulars of the 

 plumage of any of the specimens which he mentions as having had nests at the time 



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