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THE SWALLOW-TAILED HAWK. 63 
manner with a straw.” The Secretary was so called by the Dutch from the 
plumes at the back of its head, which reminded them of the pen stuck be- 
hind the ear, according to the custom of the gens de cabinet in Holland, and 
the name has since been generally adopted. These birds, at least in South 
Africa, are not gregarious, but live in pairs, and build on high trees, or in 
dense thickets. Their gait is a singular stalk, reminding us of a person 
moving along on elevated stilts ; but they run with great swiftness, and are 
not to be approached, without great difficulty, by the sportsman. Attempts 
have been made (how far successful we know not) to introduce this bird into 
Martinique for the purpose of destroying the deadly lance-headed viper, or 
yellow serpent, of the Antilles (Zrigonocephalus lanceolatus), which 
abounds there, and is greatly dreaded. 
The type of the sub-family Pernine, the Honey Buzzard (Pernis apivo- 
rus), is very rare in England, but more common in the warmer countries 
of Europe, where it is migratory. It is found in Asia, and specimens have 
been received from various parts of India. We believe one instance, only, 
of its having been killed in Ireland, is on record, ‘The bird in question was 
shot by R. G. Bornford, Esq., in his demesne of Annandale, near Belfast. 
Mr. Thompson states that the bill and forehead were covered with cow-dung, 
from the search the bird had evidently been making for insects. The stomach 
contained some of the larve, and fragments of coleoptera, and various cat- 
erpillars. It is, in fact, chiefly upon caterpillars and the larve of bees and 
wasps that the Honey Buzzard feeds, together with other insects, not, how- 
ever, to the exclusion of moles, mice, rats, small birds, reptiles, and slugs. 
According to Vicillot, the Honey Buzzard flies low, but runs on the 
ground with great celerity. It breeds in tall trees, making a nest of twigs, 
with an inner layer of wool: the eggs are two or three in number, of an 
ashy gray, dotted at each end with small, red spots, and surrounded, in the 
middle, with a broad, blood-red zone, or mottled all over with two shades 
of orange brown. 
Of the MWiledne, the Swallow-tailed Hawk (Nauelerus furcatus) of 
America, and the Kite (Milvus ictéiws) of Europe and Asia, are ex- 
amples. 
The Swallow-tailed Hawk, remarkable for its grace and ease on the wing, 
is described by Audubon as follows : — 
“Tn the States of Louisiana and Mississippi, where these birds are abun- 
dant, they arrive in large companies in the beginning of April, and are 
heard uttering a sharp, plaintive note. At this period, I generally remarked 
that they came from the westward, and have counted upwards of a hun- 
dred in the space of an hour, passing over me in a direct easterly course. 
At that season, and in the beginning of September, when they all retire 
