The Natural History of Ireland/Volume 1/The Rough-legged Buzzard
THE ROUGH-LEGGED BUZZAED.
- Buteo lagopus, Brunn.
- Falco Gmel.
Is only known as an extremely rare visitant.
About the middle of October, 1831, a bird of this species was taken near Dundonald, in the county of Down, by being knocked on the head with a stick, when gorged. The occurrence was noticed at the time in the Magazine of Natural History, vol. v. p. 578. On dissection, the remains of birds, and of a full-grown rat torn into four pieces, were found in its stomach. It was purchased Dr. J. D. Marshall, and is now in the Belfast Museum. This bird accords with Temminck's description of the adult male. It has not any indication of bands on either side of the tail : a band is represented near the tip on the under side, in Mr. Selbys figure of the female.
About this time, two others were seen at Killinchy, in the same county, and one of them was shot, but, through ignorance, it was lost as a specimen. In the autumn of 1836, the gamekeeper at Tollymore Park described a bird to me, which evidently had been of this species. It was shot a few year before (probably at the same period as the others) in Castlewellan demesne (Down), when carrying off a young rabbit.
In May, 1838, I was informed by Mr. Glennon, bird-preserver, Dublin, that a bird of this species (which he accurately described), was killed towards the end of the year 1837 (?) by the gamekeeper at Powerscourt, county of Wicklow.