7 JANUARY 1966, Page 22

Revcnons a nos moutons

About a fortnight ago a rough-legged buzzard, the first I have ever seen, took up residence in my woods, where it has since been sighted almost daily, often at close range. It looks a good deal bigger than an ordinary buzzard, but I dare say this is because it flies mainly at a much lower altitude, quartering a kale-field or a young plantation rather in the way that a barn owl sometimes does. In flight, when you cannot see the dense, plus-four-like growth of feathers on its legs, the broad white band and black terminal stripe on its tail are the main things that dis- tinguish it from the common variety. Why it shares half of its Latin name—Buteo Lago pus —with a grouse I cannot imagine.