The nest of the Buzzard is generally placed on some non-evergreen tree at various heights from the ground, but in Scotland it builds on rocks. The usual number of eggs is three or four, and these are a bluish-white, with reddish blotches. They vary a good deal in colour, some being rather richly marked, while others are almost colourless. The time of breeding is generally the month of April, or in severe seasons, early in May. A Crow’s nest is occasionally taken possession of. When the bird makes its own nest, this is formed of large branches with a lining of grass, occasionally of a few feathers. No bird varies more than the Buzzard in plumage, and many beautiful variations in its dress take place before the adult plumage is gained. The old bird is almost entirely brown above and below, the breast and abdomen generally having a more or less barred appearance; the quills are brown, banded with darker brown, and shaded with grey on their outer aspect; the tail is ashy-brown, more or less inclining to rufous, and having twelve or thirteen bars of darker brown. Young birds have a great deal of white about their plumage, some of them being nearly cream-coloured. The size of the adults is about twenty-two inches, and the sexes vary a little in dimensions, the wing of the female being perhaps one inch longer than that of the male.
The great utility of the Buzzard in destroying Mice ought to render it an object of protection and encouragement, for the number of small Mammals destroyed by these birds is immense. Brehm calculates that when they have young they will destroy at least one hundred Mice a day, and mentions that thirty Field Mice have been taken from the crop of a single bird.
THE HARPY (Thrasatus[181] harpyia[182]).
THE HARPY.
Although from its size and courage this bird is generally called the Harpy Eagle, it is evident from its structure that it is a Buzzard, as it possesses the “plated” tarsi of the latter group of birds. It is an inhabitant of the New World, from Mexico through Central America to Brazil and Bolivia. It is a very destructive bird, causing great damage to the flocks, and even destroying calves, whence it is an object of detestation to the stock-keepers in Mexico. It also feeds on deer and on the large Macaws which are found in the forest it frequents. It stands more than three feet and a half high, and has a large crest, which, together with its powerful talons and glittering eye, gives the bird an imposing aspect even in captivity. In the adult bird the coloration is ashy-grey, inclining in very old examples to silvery grey relieved by the dark ash-coloured wings and tail.
CHAPTER V.
EAGLES AND FALCONS.
[THE EAGLES]—[THE BEARDED EAGLE, OR LÄMMERGEIER]—A Visit to their Nest—Habits—A Little Girl carried off alive—Habits in Greece—Appearance—Von Tschudi’s and Captain Hutton’s Descriptions of its Attacks—[THE TRUE EAGLES]—[THE WEDGE-TAILED EAGLE]—Eye—Crystalline Lens—How Eagles may be Divided—[THE IMPERIAL EAGLE]—[THE GOLDEN EAGLE]—In Great Britain—Macgillivray’s Description of its Habits—Appearance—[THE KITE EAGLE]—Its Peculiar Feet—Its Bird’s-nesting Habits—[THE COMMON HARRIER EAGLE]—[THE INDIAN SERPENT EAGLE]—[THE BATELEUR EAGLE]—[THE WHITE-TAILED EAGLE]—A Sea Eagle—Story of Capture of some Young—[THE SWALLOW-TAILED KITE]—On the Wing—[THE COMMON KITE]—[THE EUROPEAN HONEY KITE]—Habits—[ANDERSSON’S PERN]—[THE FALCONS]—The Bill—[THE CUCKOO FALCONS]—[THE FALCONETS]—[THE PEREGRINE FALCON]—Its Wonderful Distribution—Falconry—Names for Male, Female, and Young—Hawks and Herons—[THE GREENLAND JER-FALCON]—[THE KESTRELS]—[THE COMMON KESTREL]—Its Habits and Disposition.