146 FALCOXIDJS. 



Distribution in the British Islands. A Rare Visitor which 

 has occurred twice : Alnwick, Northumberland, May 18GG ; 

 and near Aberdeen, April 1901. 



General Distribution. The Black Kite breeds in central 

 and southern Europe, being locally distributed from the 

 southern shores of the Baltic, Finland, and Russia, south- 

 wards to the Mediterranean and Caspian seas, and south- 

 western Asia ; also in north Africa from Morocco to Tunisia. 

 In winter it migrates to Africa and Madagascar. It is 

 accidental in southern Scandinavia and Heligoland. In 

 north-east Africa and southern and eastern Asia it is 

 represented by allied forms. 



Genus PERNIS Cuvier, Regne Anim. i. 1817, p. 322. 

 Type : P. apivorus (Linn.). 



Pernisirepvis, a late Greek word akin to irTepvtf, a kind of Hawk men- 

 tioned by Aristotle : c/. ~ rt(ova=tlie heel, 7rrfpi'i\=" long-heeled," perna=the 

 ham. 



Pernis apivorus. HONEY-BUZZARD. 



FalCQ apivorus Linrueus, Syst. Nat. 1758, p. 91 : Sweden. 



Pernis apivorus {Linn.) ; Sh'arpe, Cat. Birds B. M. i. 1874, 

 p. 344; B. O. U. List, 1st ed. 1883, p. 100; Sounders, 

 Manual, 2nd ed. 1899, p. 339. 



Apiv6rus= Bee-eater, from iipis and vorare. 



Distribution in t he British Islands. Formerly a regular, but 

 scarce Summer Visitor in Great Britain, but now only nesting 

 occasionally in the New Forest and other parts of England 

 and Wales. It has, however, been known to breed in various 

 counties from Hampshire northwards to Aberdeenshire and 

 east Ross-shire. As a spring and autumn passage-migrant 

 it occurs mostly on the east coast of Great Britain, and 

 has been recorded as far north as the Shetland Islands. 

 In Ireland it appears casually as a summer and autumn 

 visitor in the eastern counties. 



