Genus PERNIS, Cww.

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Gen. Coar. Bill slender, weak, be nding gradually from the base to the up; cutting margin
nearly straight ; cere occupying half the length of the bill; under mandible sloping gra-
dually to the tip. Nos¢rals long, narrow, placed very obliquely in the cere and opening
forwards: lores thickly covered with small soft tiled feathers. Wings long and ample;
first feather shorter than the sixth, and the third and fourth the longest in the wing ; inner
webs of the first four notched, and the outer webs of the third, fourth, and fifth sinuated.
Tail long and slightly rounded. Legs, tarsal half feathered, lower or naked part reticu-
lated. Toes rather slender, the inner and outer ones of nearly equal length, the anterior
joints of all scutellated. Claws weak, slightly hooked, with the inner edge of the middle

one dilated.

 

HONEY BUZZARD.

Pernis apivorus, Cwv.

La Buse Bondrée.

Tus Honey Buzzard, which is the type of Cuvier’s genus Pernis, is much more sparingly diffused over the
continent of Europe than the Common Buzzard (Buteo vulgaris), from which it differs in possessing a more
feeble and softer bill, which is wider in the gape, and in having shorter and less powerful tarsi and toes, the
claws of which are straighter and less retractile: it may also be easily distinguished from the members of the
genus Buteo by the small and closely set feathers which cover the space between the bill and the eye, which
space in all the rest of the Fadconede is either bare or thinly covered with fine hairs or bristles.

We have good reason to believe that the Honey Buzzard is far more abundant in the British Islands than
is generally suspected, several instances having come to our knowledge, not only of its capture, but also of its
breeding in this country. Its flight is easy and graceful, and, like its near ally the Buteo vulgaris, its great

 

size readily attracts the notice of the keeper and sportsman, to whom it soon becomes a prey when it takes
up its abode in our woods or parks. The range of this bird is not confined to Europe alone, as is proved by
our having frequently observed it in collections from India.

Its favourite food appears to be insects, wasps, bees, and their larvae, to which are added lizards, small birds,
mice, and moles.

It is subject to a number of changes in the colouring of its plumage, some individuals being of a uniform
dark bronzy brown, while others have the head, neck, and under surface almost white with broad transverse
bars of brown: this latter state is considered to characterize the young bird.

It builds in lofty trees, constructing a nest of twigs lined with wool and other soft materials ; the eggs are
small, of a yellowish white marked with numerous spots of reddish brown.

Crown of the head brown tinged with bluish ; upper surface brown of various tints edged with yellowish
brown ; throat yellowish white with a few brown streaks on the shafts of the feathers ; under surface yel-
lowish white, with triangular spots and bars of chestnut ; tail dark brown, with three bars of blackish brown ;
bill bluish black ; cere greenish ; irides yellow ; tarsi and feet yellow ; claws black.

There being no difference in the colouring of the sexes, we have figured a bird in the plumage of its first

year.