HONEY-BUZZARD 



217 



kite (Elanoides furcatus), an American species, which I once had 

 the pleasure of seeing (not in a glass case, but sitting on a tree, and 

 soaring in the air), has also been found as a straggler in this 

 country. The honey-buzzard (Pernis apivorus) is a third species 

 of hawk in this list which has disappeared from this country. Like 

 the hobby and the osprey, it is (or was) a summer visitant, and has 

 been known to breed in most English and Scottish counties from 



FIG. 73. HONEY-BUZZARD. 



Hampshire to Aberdeenshire. Up to within four or five years ago 

 a few pairs continued to return to us each summer, but these, too, 

 have now vanished. This fine large hawk, in size the equal of the 

 common buzzard, lived almost entirely on insect food, wasps and 

 wild bees especially hence its name of honey-buzzard. 



The remaining species to be noticed are all true falcons : the 

 gyrfalcon (Hierofalco c/yrfalco), an inhabitant of arctic Scandinavia, 

 only once obtained in this country ; the Greenland falcon (Hiero- 

 falco candicans}, a wanderer to this country from north-west 

 America and Greenland ; the Iceland falcon (Hierofalco islandicus), 

 a wanderer from Iceland ; the red-footed falcon (Tinnunculus 

 vespertinus), an occasional visitor from the warm countries of 

 Europe ; and the lesser kestrel (Tinnunculus cenchris), a visitor 

 from southern Europe, where it breeds. 



