Domestic Encyclopædia (1802)/Buzzard

BUZZARD, or the Buteo, a species of the Falco, or eagle, is the most common of the hawk-kind in England. It breeds in large woods, and lays two or three eggs, which are either perfectly white, or spotted with yellow. This bird is of a sluggish and inactive disposition, as it will remain perched upon the same bough for many hours, and is generally found in one place. It feeds on small birds, rabbits, moles, and mice; but it will also eat frogs, worms, and insects. The colour of the buzzard is various: the breast and belly of some are brown, but more frequently the former is of a yellowish white, with oblong rust-coloured spots: the back of the head, neck, and coverts of the wings, are of a deep brown, edged with a pale, rust colour; the tail is barred either with black, or ash colour.

There is another species, the æruginosus, or moor-buzzard, with a greyish body, and yellow legs. It makes its nest in a tuft of grass, or among rushes, is a fierce and voracious bird, and a great destroyer of rabbits, young ducks, and other water-fowl.