THE BUZZARD. 
73 
until that season, we were told, had been for many years occupied 
by a pair of ravens ( Corvus corax ) , which did not yield their 
possession quietly, but fought hard, though in vain, against the 
buzzards' usurpation. My companion being desirous of obtaining 
the young birds, a man undertook to descend the rock for them 
in the ordinary way, being secured from falling by a rope fastened 
about his body, and held by persons above. However, from its 
impending at the summit, this was rather perilous, and for greater 
safety he preferred ascending from the base ; the preventive just 
mentioned against accidents being in this case likewise resorted to. 
When the least apprehension of danger was manifested, we endea- 
voured to dissuade him altogether from the attempt, but his father, 
an old gray-haired man, insisted, though gain was never thought of, 
that he should not turn craven, and was so eager in leaning over the 
cliff to direct his son's movements, that we verily feared his own life 
would become a sacrifice ; but all expostulation was in vain. Three 
young birds were taken ; a fourth escaped by flight. The climber 
said the nest was composed of the strong stems of heather and 
roots of grasses, and lined with the fur of hares and rabbits ; and 
would have held several more than the four birds it contained. 
The legs of rabbits and hares were lying about it. The buzzard 
is said to be common in Donegal.* 
Wlien at Macgilligan, in the county of Londonderry, in July, 
1833, I observed a buzzard soaring about the basaltic precipices, 
and flying from one pinnacle of rock to another, its young being 
all the while very vociferous. The call of one of them loudly 
heard above the others, being similar to that of the male bird 
brought from Donegal in the preceding year, satisfied me respect- 
ing the species. The continual and loud cry of the latter bird, as 
we drove slowly from Dunfanaghy to the city of Londonderry, 
proved ludicrously annoying to us, by giving evidence of the con- 
tents of our baskets to the crowds of persons we met, — it being a 
holiday, — and thus drawing their attention towards us. The 
other two buzzards and the eagles, which shared the conveyance 
with us, remained generally quiet. These three buzzards, but 
* Mr. J. V. Stewart. 
