HONEY BUZZARD. 211 



the forenoon, the bird was again observed upon 

 a tree within view of the traps, and apparently 

 reconnoitering the place, and it then allowed of 

 a near approach. It would appear, that whatever 

 suspicions it might have entertained, it had not 

 long been able to resist the cravings of its appe- 

 tite, as it was found in the evening secured by its 

 leg in one of the traps. From its size, I con- 

 jectured it to be a male, and such it proved upon 

 dissection, and an adult bird, from the difference, 

 of colour, as contrasted with two birds of the 

 year in my possession, as well as from the pure 

 yellow of its cere and legs, those parts in the 

 young being of a greenish grey. It measured 

 twenty-one inches in extreme length, and three 

 feet seven inches in extent of wing ; the cere was 

 of a fine lemon yellow, the top of the bill bluish 

 black, the iris dark bluish grey ; the tarsi about 

 one and three-fourths inch in length, feathered 

 in part about half way down, the naked part and 

 feet yellow. The claws very little arched, but 

 sharp ; the tail long, fan-like, and extending 

 beyond the closed wings about two inches and a 

 half. The exterior plumage is of an uniform 

 dark or umber brown, including the close-set 

 feathers around the eyes, which, from their tiled 

 disposition and firmness, appear well adapted to 

 protect the face of the bird from the stings of 

 hymenopterous insects. The bottom or lower 



