194 DIURNAL BIRDS OF PREY. 



back of the head. These birds vary from 14 to 17 inches in length, and many of 

 them are remarkable for their handsome coloration. The Indian representative 

 of the genus is the black crested falcon, or, as it is commonly called, kite {Baza 

 lophotes), which has the plumage of the upper-parts of a glossy greenish black, 

 and a uniformly black tail. It is a rare bird, frequenting forests, and feeding 

 almost exclusively on insects. The other species have the tail brown or grey, 

 with darker bars; some, like the Philippine crested falcon {B. magnirostris), 

 having the breast marked with broad transverse bars of white and chestnut ; 

 while in the West African cuckoo-falcon {B. cuculoides) the brown bands are 

 narrower, less continuous, and confined to the sides of the body beneath the 

 wings. Three Central and South American falcons, constituting the genus 

 Harpagiis, differ from the crested falcons by the absence of the plume of feathers, 

 and also by the presence of a tubercle in the centre of the nostrils. 



The Eagle-like Subfamily. 



The preceding genera are included, as we have seen, in the subfamily 

 Falco7iina3 ; and we now come to a second subfamily, known as the Aquilinm, 

 which includes the honey-buzzards, kites, eagles, etc. The members of this group 

 differ from the last by the sides of the beak being simply festooned, instead of 

 notched ; although they resemble them in having the hinder aspect of the 

 metatarsus reticulated, that is to say, with the scales small and polygonal. As 

 regards their insectivorous habits, the Mississippi and crested falcons serve to 

 connect the more typical members of the preceding subfamily with the kites. In 

 the whole group the nostrils are not concealed by plumes. 



A rare visitor to the British Islands, the honey-buzzard {Pernis 

 mellivora) is a well-known although locally distributed bird on the 

 Continent, and is the only European representative of the small genus to which 

 it belongs. The honey-buzzards agree with a considerable number of other genera 

 in having the lower portion of the metatarsus bare, the length of the naked part 

 being, however, less than that of the third toe, exclusive of the claw ; and also in 

 the oblique form of the nostrils, which are generally closed in by a membrane, so 

 as to render their aperture little more than a slit. They are more specially 

 characterised by the tail being rounded, with the outer feathers inferior in length 

 to the middle pair. From their immediate allies they are distinguished by 

 the shortness of that portion of the beak in advance of the cere, as compared 

 with the third toe; while the bill itself is stout and the feathers on the lores 

 short and not produced beyond the hinder edge of the nostril. The wings are 

 long and large, and the tail also elongated ; the toes are of moderate length, and 

 the claws but slightly curved. The shortness of the feathers on the lores, 

 together with its peculiar gait, which has been compared to the running of a hen, 

 render the honey-buzzard the most unhawk-like of all the British representatives 

 of the family. It is subject to a great amount of variation in the colour and 

 markings of the plumage, more especially in birds of the first and second year. 

 Generally speaking, it may be said, howevei-, that the adult male (as shown in our 

 upper figure) has an ashy grey head, brown upper-parts, with the feathers 



