A Plea for 
the Buzzard. 
( 2 45 ) 
THE BIRD WORLD. 
fore, to say that it is quite correctly 
quoted, but it ran somewhat as 
follows:— 
“ When the wind is north or east, you sees 
The Vanners keep to their nestesies, 
But when it’s blowing west by south 
They sail aloft with open mouth.” 
“ Vanner,” or “ Wind-fanner,” is a 
name more correctly, perhaps, applying 
to the Kestrel; but, as already re¬ 
marked, the Buzzard has a similar habit 
of hovering, or “ fanning the wind,” and 
the bird’s supposed liking for the south¬ 
west (or usually rain-bearing) wind, 
obviously points the moral. Further 
north the Buzzard is sometimes known 
as the “ Helm-hawk,” from the fre¬ 
quency with which it appears from the 
“ helm-cloud ” that caps the mountain’s 
top. If rain is pending, the cloud creeps 
down the hill, and the Buzzard comes 
with it, hence it is the precursor of rain. 
Helm is in this sense derived from the 
Anglo-Saxon helan —a covering for the 
head, dead, or gled, as applied to 
Buzzard or Kite, in different parts of 
England, and most commonly to a 
Harrier in North Britain, has a similar 
origin from the Anglo-Saxon glidan — 
to glide—an admirable description of 
the flight of any of these birds. 
“To this complexion must he come at last.” 
