264 PERNIS APIVORUS. 



a fine male, shot in 1829, in Thrunton Wood, Northum- 

 berland, has been described by the Hon. H. T. Liddel, 

 of Eslington House, in the Transactions of the Natural 

 History Society of Northumberland, Durham, and 

 Newcastle-upon-Tyne ; an individual, with the head 

 and neck white, killed in 1831, at Cheswick, near Ber- 

 wick-on-Tweed, has been described by Mr Selby in the 

 second volume of the same work ; and the Rev. Messrs 

 Sheppard and Whitear mention one shot near Yar- 

 mouth, and deposited in ]VIr Sabine's collection. 



Montagu's bird was seen skimming over a large piece 

 of water, probably in pursuit of insects ; Mr Liddel's, 

 when killed, was pursuing a wood pigeon ; but of the 

 peculiar habits of the species scarcely any thing is known. 

 Nevertheless^ a person, who in all probability has never 

 seen a honey buzzard alive, informs us very gravely that 

 " its motion, when hawking for its food, especially for 

 dragon-flies near the pools and streams, is very light 

 and gliding ; and it slides," quoth he, " through the 

 branches of trees with more apparent ease than could 

 be expected in a bird of so large size." The following 

 articles are mentioned by Temminck, Selby, White, 

 and Willughby, all trust-worthy persons, as constitu- 

 ting the food of this species : — hamsters, moles, mice, 

 birds, frogs, lizards, snails, wasps, bees, larvse of the 

 two latter, green caterpillars, and other matters. 



Propagation. — Dr Fleming, borrowing from Wil- 

 lughby, states that it breeds in trees, and has grey eggs 

 marked with obscure spots : — " ova huic cinerea sunt ma- 

 culis obscurioribus varia." " In a nest robbed at Sel- 

 borne," he adds, " there was one egg smaller, and not 



