196 DIURNAL BIRDS OF PREY. 



The honey-buzzard derives its name from its habit of feeding on the larva3 of 

 bees and wasps, digging out the combs with its claws, and tearing them to pieces. 

 It will, however, also eat adult insects of various kinds, together with worms, 

 slugs, the eggs of birds, moles, and even grain. It may be taken in traps baited 

 with wasp or bee-comb ; and in captivity has been known to kill and eat rats, as 

 well as comparatively large birds. The nest is said to be generally placed at a 

 considerable height from the ground in some tall oak ; and is composed of lichen- 

 clad sticks, lined with wool and the leaves of the oak and beech. . . . Prof. Newton 

 was informed by Mr. Newcome that in France the honey-buzzard surrounds the 

 nest, after the young are hatched, with a barrier of leafy boughs, which are 

 renewed from time to time as the foliage withers ; but whether this was to prevent 

 the young from falling out, or to act as a screen, was not ascertained. The eggs 

 are not more than three in number ; and usually have a buflfish white ground- 

 colour upon which are dark blotches. 

 Black-Winged A much smaller bird than the last is the black -winged kite 



^*®- {Elanus cceruleus), which is one of the best known representatives 

 of a small genus widely distributed over both hemispheres. Agreeing with the 

 honey-buzzards in their nearly even or slightly emarginate tails, the hawks of 

 this genus differ by their more elongated bill, of which the length, in advance of 

 the cere, is greater (instead of less) than half the length of the third toe, ex- 

 clusive of the claw. They are further characterised by the extreme shortness 

 of the bare portion on the front of the metatarsus, and also by the feathered 

 lores, and the wings reaching to the end of the- tail; these characters distin- 

 guishing them from certain allied genera which we have not space to notice. 

 The black -winged kite is an inhabitant of South -Eastern Europe, Africa, and 

 India; and attains a length of just over 13 inches. Above it is of a beautiful ash- 

 grey colour, with the forehead and under-parts white, and the shoulders and lesser 

 wing-coverts deep glossy black ; the lores and a narrow streak above the eye being 

 also sable. The iris is of a full carmine-red, and the beak black, while the cere, 

 like the feet, is yellow. In young birds the upper surface is brownish grey, with 

 the under-parts yellowish streaked with brown, and most of the feathers with 

 light borders ; the iris being yellow. In America this species is replaced by the 

 white-tailed kite (E. leucurus), easily distinguished by the feathers of the tail 

 (except the middle pair, which are grey) being pure white ; while two other species 

 inhabit Australia, and a fifth the Philippines, Java, Borneo, and Celebes. 



Mr. Hume writes that the black-winged kites hover over grass in the fashion 

 of a kestrel, "but in a clumsier and heavier manner. The wings point upwards, 

 so that they are within 3 or 4 inches of each other, instead of being retained nearly 

 horizontally as in the kestrel, and the legs and tail hang down unlike those of any 

 other bird that I have noticed. Thus hovering, they after a time slowly descend, 

 and when within a few feet of the ground generally drop suddenly. They are 

 very tame, bold birds, passing unconcernedly within a few feet of a spoi-tsman 

 when busy hunting, over fields or grass, and sitting composedly on the bare end of 

 a bough, whilst gun in hand one walks up to within a few paces of their perch." 

 They are frequently to be seen sitting on the telegraph-wires alongside the Indian 

 railways ; while in Egypt they may be observed (as shown in our illustration). 



