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standing there the male bird returned with another twig, but 
catching sight of me from the distance he turned off and went 
into another tree some distance off, and nothing would induce 
him to come near the place, till I was well away, though the 
female kept going and coming all the time.” 
Mr. W. Blewitt says, “ We found one nest of this species 
near Hansie, on the 16th June, which contained a single fresh 
ege. The nest was placed on a Neem tree, at the height of 
about sixteen feet from the ground, and was slightly built of 
Keekur and Zisyphus twigs and scantily lined with a reed grass. 
It measured ten inches in diameter and four in depth.” 
In another letter, also from Hansie, he remarks,—‘‘ We got 
two nests, of the Honey Buzzard, on the 5th and 10th July, 
out of Sheeshum trees on the canal banks. One contained a 
single, fresh, the other a solitary, fully incubated egg. The 
nests were respectively, about fifteen and twenty feet from the 
ground, were constructed of Keekur and Sheeshum twigs, and 
were lined with leaves.” 
Mr. R. Thompson, writing from Gurhwal, remarks that “ The 
Honey Buzzard breeds from April to June, building its circular, 
pan-shaped nest (which no little resembles that of Spizaetus 
Caligatus) in large trees, in open forest country. 
“These birds steadily arrive in our forests, along with swarms 
of bees, in March, when they begin to pair. In April they 
begin to select trees to build on. During the coupling season, 
both birds utter a loud yet plaintive ery, very similar to that 
uttered by Spizaetus Caligatus, but from which it is distinctly 
recognizable. The food of these birds is varied. I have seen- 
them eating frogs and even young birds, and have often found 
the craw fully distended with honey. 
“The flight is rapid and direct, with occasional upward 
sweeps. Dr. Jerdon is wrong in stating, that it does not soar 
gracefully. It soars vigorously, rising to a very great height. 
As many as five or six couples might be seen here, in a single 
day well mounted in the air. The bird can dart down from a 
great height very rapidly, which it always does when tired of 
soaring, and is the cause of terrible alarm to Mainas and Para- 
keets, who set up awful screams at its approach to their nest- 
ing trees. I firmly believe this bird to be an arch robber of 
nests, having more than once detected him at work hunting about 
a tree very carefully, to the intense terror of the inhabitants.” 
In a later letter he adds, “I saw a pair soaring, not only 
very gracefully, but very high in the air in the Agoree pergun- 
nah, district Mirzapore, and in proof of this, I shot one of the 
