17 



HONEY BUZZAKD. 



PLATE IX. 



Falco apivorus, PENNANT. 



THE Honey Buzzard begins its nest in May, and the young are 

 hatched, according to White of Selborne, at the end of June, so that 

 the period of nidification must be in the month of May, or the early 

 part of June. 



The same well-known and always popular author describes the nest 

 of this species as being built in trees, in the angle formed by the lower 

 branches, and flat in shape. It is composed of sticks, larger and 

 smaller, and is lined with leaves or wool, or probably any soft materials 

 that the birds can procure. It sometimes appropriates to itself the old 

 nest of a Kite or other bird. 'Fools/ says the proverb, 'build houses 

 for wise men to live in/ and the remark, it would appear, may 

 sometimes apply to birds. 



The eggs are two or three in number, and of a general dull 

 rusty red colour, much blotted with still deeper shades of the same, 

 somewhat like those of the Kestrel in general appearance. They 

 are of a rich appearance, but vary from each other in some degree. 



One variety is of a dark reddish brown, mottled, marbled, and 

 blotted over with darker marks of the same. 



A second is of a fine very light orange rusty red general colour, 

 mottled, spotted, and slightly waved all over with a darker shade of 

 reddish brown. 



A third is somewhat of an olive brown general hue, with many 

 spots and markings of a rather darker colour, and a few large 

 irregular waved lines, here and there widened out into a blot of a 

 still darker shade of the same. 



A fourth is of a general yellowish rusty red colour, handsomely 

 blotted over with darker and lighter markings of reddish brown. 



VOL. I. D 



