PERNIS. 181 



Pernis ptilorhynchus (Temm.). The Crested Honey-Buzzard. 



Pernis cristata, Cuu., Jerd. B. Ind. i, p. 103. 



Pernis ptilorhynchus ( Temm.), Hume, Rough Draft N. fy E. no. 57. 



The Crested Honey-Buzzard breeds throughout the plains in 

 well-wooded and watered districts, but except in the Sub-Himalayan 

 tracts, such as the northern portions of Bijnour, Bareilly, Saharun- 

 poor, the Doon, &c., its nests are few and far between. 



It lays in May and June, and in the latter and former halves, 

 respectively, of April and July. It builds in trees, placing its 

 moderately-sized stick-and-twig nest in a fork, usually some con- 

 siderable height from the ground. In texture the nests differ much 

 some are compactly and neatly, others loosely and carelessly, put 

 together, but all are more or less thickly lined with leaves or 

 occasionally grass. As a rule, they lay two eggs, but it is not un- 

 common to find a single, fully incubated, egg. 



I owe to Colonel Gr. F. L. Marshall the following interesting 

 note on the nidification of this species in the Saharunpoor District, 

 which renders further remarks of my own on the subject unneces- 

 sary : " The Crested Honey-Buzzard builds in May, the young 

 being usually hatched in the beginning of June. The season for 

 building is, however, spread over a long period, as in one case I 

 noticed a bird building on the 23rd March; the nest was completed 

 by the end of April, but the first egg was not laid till the 12th May, 

 and the second egg on the 14th ; I took the nest on the 1 5th. 



" The nest is situated in the stout fork of a tree, generally about 

 two-thirds of the way up ; of the ten nests I have taken, one was 

 in a toon-tree (Cedrela toona) and all the rest in sheeshum-trees 

 (Dalbenjia sissoo). The nest is cup-shaped in the first instance, 

 but so filled up with the lining as to appear more like a flat plat- 

 form. It is a compact structure, composed entirely of twigs, neatly 

 put together and lined with a thick layer of dead leaves, chiefly 

 sheeshum-leaves, almost filling up the hollow space ; in one instance 

 I found the nest lined with perfectly fresh green leaves, and as 

 there were two eggs in it, the lining must have been partially re- 

 newed after the eggs were laid. The outer diameter of the nest 

 is about 16 to 18 inches, and of the egg-receptacle about 10 inches ; 

 the depth of the structure, including lining, is about 9 inches. 



" The eggs, two in number, are deposited in the middle of the 

 platform ; the colour varies greatly, from a white ground, more or 

 less blotched with every shade of reddish brown, to a reddish-brown 

 ground, clouded and blotched with a darker shade. Some are ex- 

 actly like gigantic Falcon's eggs, while others again closely resemble 

 richly blotched Kite's eggs ; in shape they are mostly very round. 

 The shell is thin and rather brittle, and smoother than is usual 

 among the Eaptores. 



" The bird is rather familiar in its habits, and by no means shy ; 

 I took three of its nests, from compounds in the station of Saha- 

 runpoor, and three more from the compounds of the canal chokies. 

 It seldom flies far and is easily approached. AVhen the eggs are 



