BIRDS OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 199 



The Honey Buzzard {Fernis apivonis^ Linnaeus) is only 

 a summer visitor to the British Isles, and also is met with 

 in the Palearctic and Ethiopian Regions; in the extreme 

 north of Europe, however, it appears not to occur, and is 

 found on the Mediterranean shores only as a migrant. The 

 adult male has the upper parts brown ; tail with three or 

 four distinct blackish bars ; head, ashy-grey ; under parts, 

 white, blotched and barred with dark brown; irides, yellow; 

 bill, blackish ; cere and feet, yellow. Length, about twenty- 

 two inches. The female is browner on head and larger in 

 size than male. The young is whitish on head ; upper 

 feathers, with pale edges ; under parts, white with streaks 

 of brown. 



