Northamptonshire I have very good traditional evidence 

 that it was by no means uncommon in the summer 

 during the early decades of the present century, and I 

 have a specimen that was shot with its mate from a 

 nest that contained four eggs, in the summer of 1843 

 or 1844. The old gamekeeper who shot these birds 

 declared that in his early days he had shot " scores of 

 Buzzards of two kinds," besides Kites and Harriers. 



My personal acquaintance with the subject of this 

 article in freedom is somewhat limited, being confined 

 almost exclusively to Switzerland and Spain. I seldom, 

 if ever, observed a Honey-Buzzard soaring in the 

 manner of the Common Buzzard or Kite; it always 

 seemed to me to be a somewhat sluggish bird, by no 

 means remarkably shy of man, delighting in " taking 

 the sun " on the topmost boughs of lofty trees, and 

 evincing a very marked preference for beeches. It is 

 very frequently to be seen on the ground in open glades 

 under the forest trees, in search of wasp-grubs and 

 other food, and runs with great ease and rapidity. The 

 only note that I have heard from a wild bird of this 

 species is a shrill monosyllabic squeal rapidly repeated, 

 and very distinct from the long-drawn shriek of the 

 Kite or the wail of the Common Buzzard. The nest is 

 usually placed in a tall beech or oak tree, at a con- 

 siderable height from the ground, and is usually com- 

 posed of dead sticks, and lined with twigs and root-fibres, 

 and carpeted with fresh beech-leaves that are constantly 

 renewed till the eggs are hatched out. The story of 

 the leafy screen that is recorded in ' Yarrell,' 4th ed. 

 vol. i. p. 123, on the authority of the late Mr. E. Clough 



