FALCONIDiE. 
38 
RAP TORES. 
FALCON ID A\. 
COMMON BUZZARD. 
Buteo vulgaris. 
PLATE XIV. FIGS. I. II. 
The Common Buzzard is, with all the larger birds of 
prey, driven to seek shelter in a few of our more exten¬ 
sive woods, far from which it is rarely seen. Its nest is 
built in trees, and is composed of sticks, lined with a 
quantity of wool, fur, and such-like soft materials. In 
Scotland, where it is more numerous than with us, Mr. 
Wolley tells me that it inhabits districts quite without 
trees, making its nest—which is very much like an eagle’s, 
except in size, and lined with the same kind of dry grass 
—upon the ledges of rocks. Mr. Macgillivray says, that 
“ it chooses for its nest a shelf of a rock, or the edge of 
a steep scar or bed of a hill torrent, and forms it of sticks, 
twigs, and heath, with a rude lining of wool and grass.” 
The eggs, which are three or four in number, vary 
according to the age of the bird, and are sometimes of a 
spotless white. Those from which the plate is drawn, 
are from the collection of Mr. Wolley, and were taken 
by himself in Sutherlandshire. An egg in Mr. Walter’s 
collection is beautifully coloured with different tints of 
purple and lilac. Mr. Wingate had the eggs brought to 
him from the same place for several successive years—no 
doubt the produce of the same bird. The first year they 
were white, or nearly so ; the second year slightly marked 
with indistinct yellowish-brown ; increasing each year in 
the intensity of their colouring till the spots became of 
a rich dark brown. 
