A pair of honey-buzzards, _Buteo opivorus_, _sive Vespivorus Raii_, built
them a large shallow nest, composed of twigs and lined with dead beechen
leaves, upon a tall, slender beech near the middle of Selborne Hanger, in
the summer of 1780. In the middle of the month of June a bold boy
climbed this tree though standing on so steep and dizzy a situation, and
brought down an egg, the only one in the nest, which had been sat on for
some time, and contained the embryo of a young bird. The egg was
smaller, and not so round as those of the common buzzard; was dotted at
each end with small red spots, and surrounded in the middle with a broad
bloody zone. The hen bird was shot, and answered exactly to Mr. Ray's
description of that species; had a black cere, short thick legs, and a
long tail. When on the wing this species may be easily distinguished
from the common buzzard by its hawk-like appearance, small head, wings
not so blunt, and longer tail. This specimen contained in its craw some
limbs of frogs and many grey snails without shells. The irides of the
eyes of this bird were of a beautiful bright yellow colour.
About the 10th July in the same summer a pair of sparrow-hawks bred in an
old crow's nest on a low beech in the same hanger; and as their brood,
which was numerous, began to grow up, became so daring and ravenous, that
they were a terror to all the dames in the village that had chickens or
ducklings under their care. A boy climbed the tree, and found the young
so fledged that they all escaped from him, but discovered that a good
house had been kept: the larder was well-stored with provisions, for he
brought down a young blackbird, jay, and house-martin, all clean picked,
and some half devoured. The old birds had been observed to make sad
havoc for some days among the new-flown swallows and martins, which,
being but lately out of their nests, had not acquired those powers and
command of wing that enable them, when more mature, to set such enemies
at defiance.