buzzards. 593 



They do not chase their prey when it is on the wing, but secrete 

 themselves, where they wait until a victim passes within reach. When 

 thus occupied, they will remain for several hours in the most complete 

 immobility, presenting an air of lethargy which has become pro- 

 verbial. This stupid look is owing to their nonchalant and apathetic 

 attitude, and also to the weakness of their eyes, which are affected 

 by strong light. 



They generally build their nests on the loftiest trees, occasionally 

 in thickets of brushwood growing among rocks. When frost occurs 

 they visit farm-yards and make forays upon poultry. If pressed by 

 hunger, they become excessively bold. Their general food consists 

 of small birds, rodents, serpents, insects, and sometimes corn. They 

 are easily tamed. M. Degland mentions one which lived in perfect 

 good fellowship with a sporting dog, and even went so far as to 

 share its food. Buffon also speaks of another which was so attached 

 to its master that it could not be happy unless in his company ; 

 it was present at all his meals, when it would caress him with its head 

 and bill; and, although this bird always enjoyed the most complete 

 liberty, every evening it returned to roost on the window-sill. One 

 day when its master was riding on horseback, it followed him for 

 more than two leagues, hovering over him in the air. 



Mr. Yarrell relates of these birds, which are much attached to 

 their progeny, that in the town of Uxbridge a Buzzard kept in a 

 domestic state having manifested a desire for building, the means 

 were furnished, and two hen eggs placed under her. The young 

 chickens were hatched, and reared as if they had been her own. On 

 another occasion, in order to save her the trouble of sitting, some 

 chickens just hatching were placed in her nest ; these she killed, 

 evidently feeling that she was not allied to them by any maternal tie. 



The principal species are the Common Buzzard {Buteo vulgaris, 

 Fig. 278), which is found all over Europe — it was until lately very- 

 common in England ; the Honey Buzzard (Pernis apivorus), a native 

 of Eastern Europe — this bird is partial to bees, wasps, and their 

 larvae, of which its food principally consists, it will also eat grain, 

 and, in a domestic state, fruit ; and the Rough-legged Buzzard 

 (Archibuteo lagopus), so called on account of the feathers which 

 cover its tarsi down to the toes, it is a native of Europe, Africa, 

 and North America. Ptarmigans are their favourite food, so cold 

 climates are their principal habitat. 



The birds which belong to the Harrier genus are characterised by 

 long and slender tarsi, covered with feathers on the upper portion 

 only, and also by a sort of collar formed of closely-planted feathers, 



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