1958 THE DIURNAL BIRDS OF PREY 



notched; although they resemble them in having the hinder aspect of the metatarsus 

 reticulated, that is to say, with the scales small and polygonal. As regards their 

 insectivorous habits, the Mississippi and crested falcons serve to connect the more 

 typical members of the preceding subfamily with the kites. In the whole group the 

 nostrils are not concealed by plumes. 



A rare visitor to the British Islands, the honey buzzard (Pernis 



on f. y mellivora) is a well-known although locally distributed bird on the 



Buzzards 



Continent, and is the only European representative of the small genus 



to which it belongs. The honey buzzards agree with a considerable number of 

 other genera in having the lower portion of the metatarsus bare, the length of the 

 naked part being, however, less than that of the third toe, exclusive of the claw, 

 and also in the oblique form of the nostrils, which are generally closed in by 

 a membrane, so as to render their aperture little more than a slit. They are 

 more specially characterized by the tail being rounded, with the outer feathers 

 inferior in length to the middle pair. From their immediate allies they are dis- 

 tinguished by the shortness of that portion of the beak in advance of the cere, 

 as compared with the third toe, while the bill itself is stout and the feathers on the 

 lores short and not produced beyond the hinder edge of the nostril. The wings are 

 long and large, and the tail also elongated; the toes are of moderate length, and the 

 claws but slightly curved. The shortness of the feathers on the lores, together with 

 its peculiar gait, which has been compared to the running of a hen, render the 

 honey buzzard the most unhawk-like of all the British representatives of the family^ 

 It is subject to a great amount of variation in the color and markings of the plum- 

 age, more especially in birds of the first and second year. Generally speaking, 

 it may be said, however, that the adult male (as shown in our upper figure) 

 has an ashy-gray head, brown upper parts, with the feathers margined with 

 a lighter tint, and having a dark median streak, and the tail pale brown with the 

 extreme tip whitish, and marked by three dark transverse bars. Beneath, the 

 plumage is white, narrowly streaked with brown, such streaks expanding on 

 the sides of the body into spade-shaped markings. As in our figure, there may 

 be some white on the tips of the wing feathers. The iris is straw colored, the beak 

 black, and the feet yellow with black claws. Young birds, as shown in the lower 

 figure of our illustration, are generally brown or yellowish brown, with the shafts 

 of the feathers distinctly streaked with black, and the under parts more rufous than 

 the upper surface. The ashy -brown tail is broadly tipped with buffish white, and 

 is crossed by two distinct chocolate bars, one near the end and the other near 

 the middle, between which are a number of imperfect dark bars. The iris is hazel. 

 The length of the adult bird is about twenty-five and one-half inches, so that it 

 may be compared in size to a kite. The honey buzzard ranges over the greater 

 part of Europe, and probably occurs in several parts of Northern Asia, as it has 

 been recorded from Japan and near Pekin. In Sweden it breeds within the Arctic 

 Circle, and it has frequently nested in England. During the winter it migrates to 

 Arabia, Africa, and Madagascar. In India it is replaced by the crested honey 

 buzzard (P. ptilorhynchus] , a species ranging through the Malayan region, dis- 

 tinguished by the crest of the adults, and remarkable for its great individual varia- 



