368 SPOLIA ZEYLANICA. 
from two to four, three being the usual number of eggs. The 
eggs are white, tinged with a faint bluish tinge when fresh, 
and more or less brightly marked with blotches of reddish- 
brown. Average size 1°46 by 1°18. 
Note.—Accipiter nisus—The Sparrow Hawk—may possibly 
occur in the Island. Kelaart in his Prodromus (p. 96) states 
that he saw a single live specimen. Legge (p. 29, footnote) 
shows that the authenticity of this record is doubtful. The 
species, however, is a winter migrant as far south as the 
Nilgiris, and may possibly turn up one day in the Ceylon hills. 
It is a larger bird than the Besra Sparrow Hawk ; males 
measuring about 8 and females 9°5 in the wing. It may be 
recognized by the fourth primary quill, which in adults has 
only five or six dark bars, and by the lack of the dark throat- 
stripe, which is generally present in Accipiter virgatus. 
Group VII.—Honey Buzzards. 
The Honey Buzzards differ from all other Birds of Prey by 
having the sides of the head, the lores, and even the eyelids 
covered with close overlapping scale-like feathers. As the 
birds feed largely on the combs and larvz of bees and wasps, 
the close feathering of the head is doubtless a protection 
against the stings of these insects. The bill is weak, rather 
long, not very hooked, and has little or no festoon. ‘The wings 
are long and rather rounded. The tail is moderate in length. 
The tarsus is short and feathered halfway down in front. The 
toes are long, the middle toe being as long as the tarsus, and 
are covered with conspicuous bony scales. Honey Buzzards 
are found throughout most parts of the Old World. One 
species occurs throughout the Indian Empire. 
PgrRNIS cRistTaTuS (Blanford, Vol. III., p. 406). 
PERNIS PTILONORHYNCHUS (Legge, p. 89). 
The Crested Honey Buzzard. 
Description.—Plumage extremely variable. A fairly typical 
specimen is coloured as follows :—Forehead and crown iron- 
gray, deepening on the back of the head to light brown, with 
dark shaft-stripes ; the small crest is black ; nape and sides 
