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Notice of the Capture of Pernis apivorus (Honey Buzzard), a rare species 

 of the British Falconid<z ; and of the Wry-neck. By P. J. Selby, 

 Esq. 



This individual was caught in a steel spring- trap on the 28tli of 

 August last, under circumstances wHcii, as illustrative of the peculiar 

 habits of the species, I think it may not be altogether uninteresting to 

 detail. On the afternoon of the 27th August, a large bird, apparently 

 of the hawk species, was observed by Mr B. Atherton in the grounds at 

 Twizell, to rise from the ground beneath the decumbent branches of a 

 Platanus. Upon going to the spot, he observed a number of wasps 

 (Vespa vulgaris) flying around, and part of a nest and broken comb 

 scratched out of a large hole at the root of the tree, in which it had 

 been built. The fact was mentioned on his return to the house, and 

 from the circumstances detailed, I conjectured it might possibly be the 

 work of a honey-buzzard ; an inspection of the place an hour or two 

 afterwards strengthened this supposition, as it was evident the aggres- 

 sor had again been there, having nearly torn the whole of the comb to 

 pieces, and cleared it of the wasps, grubs, and immature young with 

 which it had been filled. At the suggestion of Mrs Selby, two steel- 

 traps were set in the evening, close to the site of the destroyed wasp- 

 hive, and baited with two large pieces of comb taken from another 

 nest, destroyed a few evenings previously. Upon looking at them 

 early the following morning, they appeared undisturbed, but during 

 the course of 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 appetite, as it was found in the evening secured by 

 its leg in one of the traps. From its size, I conjectured 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 weU as from the pure yellow of its cere and legs, those 

 parts in the young being of a greenish grey. It measured 21 inches 

 in extreme length, and 3 feet 7 inches in extent of wing ; the cere was 

 of a fine lemon-yeUow, the top of the biU bluish-black, the iris dark 

 bluish-grey ; the tarsi about If 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 2^ inches. The exterior plixmage is of an uniform 

 dark or umber brown, including the close-set feathers around the eyes, 

 which, from their tiled disposition and firmness, appear weU adapted 

 to protect the face of the bird from the stings of hymenopterous 

 insects. The bottom or lower part of the plumage is white, and a 

 thick clothing of down closely invests the whole of the body. The tail 



