. PERNIS. 405 



Young birds brown above, the feathers with rufous margins ; 

 beneath buff or brownish white, a dark brown median band on the 

 throat, and large brown spots on the breast, abdomen, and thigh- 

 coverts, most elongate on the breast. The spots on the lower 

 parts are replaced by bars as the bird grows older. 



The Besra is a variable species and undergoes several changes in 

 coloration before it becomes adult, hence many doubts have arisen 

 as to whether one or more species are included. 



Bill leaden grey, blackish at the tip ; cere pale lemon-yellow ; irides 

 bright yellow, orange in old birds ; legs and feet yellow. 



A Himalayan female measures : — length 14*5 ; tail 7 ; wing 8 ; 

 tarsus 2-15; mid toe 1"5 ; bill from gape '7: the male is smaller, 

 tail 5, wing 6'7o. In Ceylon, Tenasserim, and Andaman females 

 the wing is 7 to 7"6 long, in males 5-5 to 6*4. As usual. Northern 

 birds are larger than Southern, Japan and Chinese specimens 

 being even larger than Himalayan, according to Gurney's measure- 

 ments. The larger Northern race is A. gidaris. Probably the 

 Chinese, Malay, and Philippine A. stevensoni is only a variety. 



Distribution. A resident throughout the Himalayas, and in the 

 great forests of the Peninsula and Ceylon, wandering occasionally 

 into other parts of the country, as young birds have been recorded 

 even from Sambhar and Cutch. It has also been found occasion- 

 ally in Assam and in various parts of Burma, Japan, China, South- 

 eastern Asia generally, and the Indo-Malayan islands. 



Habits, S,-e. A forest-hawk living on small birds chiefly, but also 

 on lizards and insects. It is highly esteemed for sporting purposes 

 by native falconers on account of its speed, courage, and endurance, 

 and is thought by them superior to A. nisus. Very little is known 

 of the breeding, but the nest has been taken by Mr. Gammie in 

 .Sikhim and by Mr. H. Parker in Ceylon. Both nest and eggs 

 resemble those of A. nisus. 



Genus PERNIS, Cuvier, 1817. 



The Honey-Buzzards are distinguished from all other Accipitrine 

 birds by having the lores and sides of the head, like the forehead and 

 chin, covered with small scale-like feathers, without any bristles 

 or bristly ends. This dense covering probably serves as a protec- 

 tion against the stings of bees and wasps, the combs and young of 

 which form the principal food of the genus. 



The bill is weak, rather elongate, not much hooked at the end, 

 and with a small festoon or none ; nostrils long, narrow, and oblique, 

 the upper margin membranous. Wings" long, 3rd and 4th quills 

 subequal and longest, oth very little shorter. Tail moderately long, 

 slightly I'ounded. Tarsus short, stout, plumed halfway down in 

 front, the naked portion covered all round with small subhexagonal 

 non-imbricate scales ; toes long, covered above with bony trans- 

 verse shields, all divided except the last two or three ; claws long, 

 slightly curved, middle claw somewhat dilated on the inner side. 



Honey-Buzzards occur throughout most parts of Europe, Asia, 

 ^nd Africa, and one species is Indian. A second, described by 



