Buzzard, or the Bitten, 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 dispo-sition, 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 aruginosus, or moor-buzzard, with a greyish body, and yellow legs. It its nest in a tuft of grass, or among rushes, is a fierce and voracious bird, and a great destroyer rabbits, young ducks, and other water-fowl.