300 NATURAL HISTORY OF BIRDS. 



In its <;:cncr:il form it resembles the Huteones, but is more slenderly built, and li:is 

 a longer tail, in both of which re8i)ects it resembles the kites. The sides of the head, 

 however, are softly and <lensely feathered to tlie very base of the bill, in this resjicet 

 differing entirely from most members of both these grou)is, though we see an a|>j)roHch 

 to this character in I'Jlaiioides. It gets its name of honey-biuzard from its habit of 

 digging u]) or breaking o|ien the nests of wasps and bees, on the larvaj of which it 

 delights tt> feed, an<l in the gathering of which the densely feathered head is jjroof 

 against the stings of the infuriated insects. It probably also enjoys the honey, which 

 it certainly eats, for large quantities have been found in its stomach, accompanied by 

 but very few larva', though it has usually been su]>posed that the honey was only 

 eaten by accident with the young bees. This fondness for larva' is not satisfied with 

 bees alone, for the bird eats larvaj of various other insects, as well as worms, small 

 reptiles, and mammals, and lias even been found gorged with maggots, which were 

 obtained from tlic carcass of a dead animal. It also robs the nests of the smaller 

 birds, and is much persecuted by them in consequence. 



It is a migratory sjiecies, spending the winter in Africa, and moving northward in 

 the spring, frec|uently traveling in large, loose flocks. Of these migrations as observed 

 at Heligoland, — that little roek in the North Sea so famous as a resting-place for 

 tired migrants, — .Mr. .1. Cordeaux tells us "3[r. Giitkc says this is by far the most 

 common of the buzzanls, not, however, apjiearing in the s])ring before it reallj- h.is 

 become warm, returning southwanl again in .\ugust and Sej>tend)er. Besides single 

 specimens, and two and three at a time, there are during both ]ieriods of migration, 

 not very unfrequently, such flights that they may almost be termed thousands, not 

 all masse<l together, but jiassiiig over from mid-day to evening in batches of from five 

 to fifteen, or twenty to fifty, one following the other so closely that the firet batch is 

 not out of sight before the third or even the fourth begins to show already. The ver- 

 nal migration takes place about the latter part of May, or a little earlier, on warm 

 days with a calm clear sky and easterly wind.'' 



Contrary to the gener.il rule among birds of prey, it is very late in nesting, its 

 eggs being seldom laid until the young of other hawks and buzzards are hatched or 

 even half grown. The nest, — fre(|ueiitly the deserted one of another kite, — is i)laced 

 in a tree, anil in it two or three beautifully marked eggs are laid. These liavc long 

 been counted as sjjecial j)rizes by European collectors, and ])erhaps it is largely owing 

 to this demand for its eggs that the species has of late years ceased to breed abun- 

 dantly in ])laees where it formerly did so. By the time the nest is built, tlie oaks and 

 beeches are in full leaf, and the nest conseipiently dithcult to find, and its safety is 

 still further assured by a curious liabit of the birds themselves, which leads them to 

 line and decorate the nest with an abundance of fresh green leaves, which tliev renew- 

 as fast as they become faded. This is <lone first before the eggs are laiil, and is kept 

 up sometimes until after they are hatched, though more commonlv only for a short 

 time after laying. One or two other species of this genus are known. 



The sub-family Polyborina-, carrion-buzzards, is a small group of eight or nine 

 species, all confined to America, and only two of them found above Panama. In 

 their h.abits they combine characteristics of the New World vultures with those of 

 onlinary buzz.-inls and eagles. Structurally they are easily sei)arable from lioth, and 

 although externally they suggest the Aquilina', llidgway has shown that osteologically 

 tliey are nearer the falcons. 



They may readily be recognized by the webbing between the toes, this being found 



