©riginal Articles. 



NOTES ON THE BUZZARD {BUTEO VULGARIS). 



By Wm. Eagle Clarke. 



In these days of game-preserving wlien the useful kestrel and owls, 

 and even the magpie and the jay, are to be found in the rank and 

 file of the keeper's enemies, it is not surprising that so large a hawk 

 as the buzzard has ceased to perform those duties allotted to it by 

 Nature for her economy, and to be an object adding to the beauty 

 and interest of most of our woodland districts. This is greatly to be 

 deplored, as it is a most useful bird — a great destroyer of rats, mice, 

 moles, and other animals, which, when they become numerous, are 

 alike prejudicial to the interests of the agriculturalist and landowner. 

 It also preys upon weakly birds and animals, thus furthering Nature's 

 design for the survival of the fittest. But alas ! poor buzzard, you 

 are sometimes guilty of snatching a young pheasant — a most heinous 

 crime in this enlightened age ! consequently your good qualities are 

 reckoned as nought, and you are doomed to perish, paying penalty to 

 that insatiable tyrant, modern sport. 



Among the wild mountain crags of England and Wales (also Scot- 

 land, but my experience does not apply to that country), the buzzard's 

 existence is not quite so precarious, though it often falls a victim to 

 the baited trap, and on the moors to the pole trap. This last is a 

 most cruel instrument, and should by right come under the lash of 

 the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. But even in these 

 secluded wilds its numbers are very limited, and it can hardly be said 

 to be increasing. In the year 1876 I made a special tour in the 

 north of England for the purpose of procuring autheniic eggs for my 

 collection, and becoming acquainted with this species in its mountain 

 home ; and in the years 1877 and 1878 I had again opportunities of 

 observing it among the Welsh mountains. In these districts its 

 habits, flight, and nidification greatly resemble those of the golden 

 eagle, and when seen on the wing at a distance, it might easily be 

 mistaken for that species. The expanse of wing of one specimen 

 obtained in 1875 was 4ft. Gin. Its food consists chiefly of moles, in 

 the pursuit of which it is to be seen soaring in circles over the fell- 

 sides, often at a considerable elevation. It also feeds on carrion in 

 the shape of dead sheep. In winter it ceases to roost on the fells, 

 seeking shelter in the plantations of the lower levels. The character 



of laziness given to this species by some naturalists cannot here be 

 N. S., YOL. v., Nov., 1879. 



