THE HONEY BUZZARD. J 39 



two of the exposed horizontal roots of the tree ; 

 when, desisting from its work, it ran rapidly for 

 ten or fifteen yards, and then rising with appa- 

 rent reluctance, sailed away on noiseless wing 

 down one of the open alleys of the forest, keep- 

 ing near the ground like the hen-harrier, until I 

 lost sight of it behind a little hill at the farther 

 extremity of a long vista. 



I should imagine this to have been an imma- 

 ture bird, the state of the plumage, as far as I 

 could observe, corresponding with Mr. Jenyns's 

 description of the young of the year, the head 

 and upper parts being variegated with white 

 spots; but, indeed, such extraordinary variety 

 of plumage does the honey buzzard present, that 

 I have never yet seen two specimens which ex- 

 actly resembled each other, having no rival in 

 this respect among British birds, except that 

 feathered harlequin of the fens, the ruff. 



The generic characters of the honey buzzard, 

 which appear to have been first appreciated by 

 Cuvier, are sufficiently obvious in a recently killed 

 or in a preserved specimen ; but even at the dis- 

 tance at which I observed this bird when on the 

 ground — although too far to perceive the feathered 

 lore, the reticulated tarsi, or tlie partially curved 

 claws — there was something about its manner 

 and bearincr which was remarkable. Instead of 



