Page:The Natural History of Ireland vol1.djvu/97

 until that season, we were told, had been for many years oocupied by a pair of ravens (Corvus corax), which did not yield their possession quietly, but fought hard, though in vain, against the buzzards' usurpation. My companion being desirous of obtaining the young birds, a man undertook to descend the rock for them in the ordinary way, being secured from falling by a rope fastened about his body, and held by persons above. However, from its impending at the summit, this was rather perilous, and for greater safety he preferred ascending from the base ; the preventive just mentioned against accidents being in this case likewise resorted to. When the least apprehension of danger was manifested, we endea- voured to dissuade him altogether from the attempt, but his father, an old gray-haired man, insisted, though gain was never thought of, that he should not turn craven, and was so eager in leaning over the cliff to direct his son's movements, that we verily feared his own life would become a sacrifice ; but all expostulation was in vain. Three young birds were taken ; a fourth escaped by flight. The climber said the nest was composed of the strong stems of heather and roots of grasses, and lined with the fur of hares and rabbits ; and would have held several more than the four birds it contained. The legs of rabbits and hares were lying about it. The buzzard is said to be common in Donegal.*

When at Macgilligan, in the county of Londonderry, in July, 1833, I observed a buzzard soaring about the basaltic precipices, and flying from one pinnacle of rock to another, its young being all the while very vociferous. The call of one of them loudly heard above the others, being similar to that of the male bird brought from Donegal in the preceding year, satisfied me respect- ing the species. The continual and loud cry of the latter bird, as we drove slowly from Dunfanaghy to the city of Londonderry, proved ludicrously annoying to us, by giving evidence of the con- tents of our baskets to the crowds of persons we met, — it being a holiday, — and thus drawing their attention towards us. The other two buzzards and the eagles, which shared the conveyance with us, remained generally quiet. These three buzzards, but

Mr. J. V. Stewart.