Ncwcoinc, was told to iiic by that gentleman many 

 years ago ; liis idea was that it was intended either as a 

 means of concealing the nestlings from the sharp eyes 

 of the Gos-Hawl<s that frequent the forest in which he 

 observed this habit, or as a screen from the sun ; be 

 this as it may, it is not an invariable custom, and, so 

 far as the latter hypothesis is concerned, the Honey- 

 Buzzard's nests are generally well shaded from tlie sun. 



Besides the grubs of wasps and bees that constitute 

 the favourite food of this bird, worms, caterpillars, frogs, 

 field-mice, and other " small deer," to my knowledge, 

 come frequently into its bill of fare. It is somewhat 

 remarkable that having failed in several instances to 

 keep this species alive through the winter upon the 

 ordinary food of '' Raptor es," I was induced, in the 

 case of two young birds received from France in 

 August 1892, to try them with an exclusive diet of 

 bread and milk, and found that they did perfectly well 

 upon this very unnatural provend, preferring it even to 

 wasp-comb full of grubs. 



I have this year (1893) received a nestling of this 

 species (also from France) of the very beautiful variety 

 with white head and upper breast, figured in Dresser's 

 ' Birds of Europe ' and Borrer's ' Birds of Sussex.' 

 Having been informed in 1891 of the capture of 

 a Honey-Buzzard many years before that date in Salcey 

 Forest, Northamptonshire, 1 wrote to the person named 

 to me as the captor, and received the following reply : — ■ 

 "Salcey Forest, March 25, 1891. I beg to say, in 

 answer to your letter, that the Honey-Buzzard was 

 pulled out by me in the Crown Woods near Silverstone 



