There is a good deal of variation observable in the colouring of the Buzzard, inclining sometimes to whitish, sometimes to brown or even to blackish. With its thick-set body, this bird of prey exceeds the Raven in size. Its constant distinguishing marks are these: The cere at the base of the bill, and the legs, which are bare of feathers, are yellow; the nostrils are oval; the iris grey or brown. The shafts of the primaries and secondaries are white. The tail is crossed by seventeen dark bands, and appears fore-shortened. The bill is curved and hooked. The nest is built in the loftiest beeches and oaks. Three to four eggs form the clutch. They are rarely white, more often clouded with dirty-yellow on a lighter ground.
The Sparrow-hawk.
(Accipiter nisus.)
Though the Sparrow-hawk, taken altogether, is a small bird, yet he is a great thief, as may be gathered from his piercing eye. He is the terror of all birds of the Starling size, which he seizes while on the wing. Like a true robber, he watches for his booty in a secret kind of way; having selected one from among a company of flying birds, he flies below, among the furrows in the cornfield, along the hedges, and the border of the woods, and on to a haystack. When he has seen his destined prey he flutters sideways, rises into the air in circles, and when the little birds fly up he sinks somewhat lower; when at the proper height he claps his wings close to his body, and drops like a piece of lead on to the chosen, fluttering victim, seizes it by the neck in its flight, and strangles it with his sharp claws. He then flies slowly with it to a bush or a grassy-mound and devours it.
It winters in Hungary; it is not rare, but at the same time not very common. Its cry sounds like “Kirk, kirk, kirk,” or a rapid “ki, ki, ki,” or a long drawn-out “kāk, kāk.”
This bird was the sporting Hawk of our forefathers, and the people of the interior of Asia, and the Kurds, employ it for hunting at the present day. Wherever it goes it carries devastation in its train, especially among the domestic fowls. Its cry is loud and protracted. “Iwiā!” it repeats quickly on seizing its prey. When
HARMFUL.
