17 
HONEY BUZZARD. 
PLATE IX. 
Falco apivorus, . : ‘ : . PENNANT. 
Tue Honey Buzzard begins its nest in May, and 
the young are hatched, according to White of Selborne, 
at the end of June, so that the period of nidification 
must be in the month of May, or the early part of 
June. 
The same well-known and always popular author 
describes the nest of this species as being built in 
trees, in the angle formed by the lower branches, and 
flat in shape. It is composed of sticks, larger and 
smaller, and is lined with leaves or wool, or probably 
any soft materials that the birds can procure. It some- 
times appropriates to itself the old nest of a Kite or 
other bird. “Fools,” says the proverb, “build houses 
for wise men to live in;” and the remark, it would 
appear, may sometimes apply to birds. 
The eggs are two or three in number, and of a 
gencral dull rusty red colour, much blotted with still 
deeper shades of the same, somewhat like those of the 
Kestrel in general appearance. They are of a rich 
appearance, but vary from each other in some degree. 
One variety is of a dark reddish brown, mottled, 
marbled, and blotted over with darker marks of the 
same. 
A second is of a fine very light orange rusty red 
VOL, I. 2D 
