COMMON BUZZARD 193 
COMMON BUZZARD. 
{Buteo vulgaris.) 
Puttock. — Up to the middle of the last century 
the Buzzard was still common in many wooded 
districts, but it is now entirely confined to the 
lofty cliffs of the coast, and to mountainous inland 
regions. Happily it is still not rare in the 
mountains of Wales, the Lake District, and many 
parts of the Highlands, as well as along the coasts 
of the Bristol Channel, and its grand, broad-winged 
form may still be seen sailing and circling high in 
air on most days in these haunts. It is a stately 
rather than an active bird of prey, and it will 
rarely seize any live creature larger than a young 
rabbit ; while it feeds chiefly upon a varied selec- 
tion of small birds, mice, moles, reptiles, and even 
insects. It has usually some watch-tower among 
the rocks to which it carries its larger victims to 
dispose of at leisure ; and here fragments of the 
feast may often be found scattered around. In 
colour it is a rich, reddish, mottled brown above, 
with paler stains below ; but different individuals 
vary a great deal in the depth of their colouring. 
It flies with slow beats of its broad, round wings, 
and will also float and circle in a very fine and 
striking manner at a height. Its note is a wild, 
o 
