8 



6 



August and September, and sent to the Athens Museum, as stated by Dr. Kriiper. In Southern 

 Germany, however, it is met with here and there during the summer. Seidensacher obtained its 

 eggs near Cilli, in Styria ; and the Bitter von Tschusi-Schmidhofen informs me that a few pairs 

 breed in the Riesengebirge, but in Moravia it has become rare. In Upper and Lower Austria, 

 Hungary, and Silesia it is, he says, not unfrequently met with, but is rare in Salzburg and 

 Siebenbiirgen ; and Dr. Anton Fritsch speaks of it as breeding tolerably commonly in Bohemia. 

 According to Mr. C. Farman (Ibis, 1869, p. 203) it was found breeding near Kialdery by Mr. C. 

 McVean, who took the young and shot the old bird ; and on the Bosphorus large numbers pass 

 and repass during the two seasons of passage. It appears, however, to be rare in Southern 

 Eussia, where, Eversmann says, it is found both in the hills and on the plains, but does not 

 occur in the Government of Kazan. I have a specimen from Sarepta, on the Volga. Dr. 

 Kriiper met with it near Smyrna, in Asia Minor ; and Canon Tristram speaks of it (Ibis, 1865, 

 p. 255) as being rather scarce in Palestine, but undoubtedly a constant resident. He observed 

 it in November and December near the coast, and saw one which had been shot in the autumn 

 near Beyrout. Mr. Bartlett shot one near Nazareth in April. In North-east Africa it is rare ; 

 and though both Hedenborg and Ruppell record it from Egypt, it was not found there by 

 Von Heuglin, and Captain Shelley looks upon it as a mere straggler to that country. On the 

 west side of the Continent it is also found, and cannot be very rare, as large flocks pass and 

 repass annually over the Straits of Gibraltar. Loche, however, only records the occurrence of 

 two examples in Algeria. Favier, however, speaks of it as being numerous during passage near 

 Tangier, at which seasons only is it seen there. Pel obtained it in Fantee ; Mr. Ussher procured 

 a specimen from Denkera; and Dr. A. Eeichenow writes (J. f. O. 1874, p. 385) that it is, he 

 believes, a resident in the Lower Cameroons, as it has also been killed there in summer. 

 Mr. Layard did not obtain it in the Cape colony ; but it is generally believed that the " Tachard " 

 of Levaillant is founded on the present species. Mr. Ayres, however, twice procured it in Natal ; 

 and in the British Museum is a specimen from Madagascar. 



To the eastward it has been stated to occur as far as Japan ; but I am very doubtful as to 

 whether Pernis ptilorhynchus, which in immature dress is almost undistinguishable from the 

 present species, has not been mistaken for it. Pernis apivorus was not met with in Persia by 

 Mr. Blanford, and certainly does not occur in India. SevertzofF, who states that it is met with 

 rarely in Turkestan on passage, adds that the only specimen he saw was remarkably large in 

 size, differing therein greatly from ordinary European examples. 



In its habits the present species is a true Buzzard, being cowardly, even more so than the 

 common Buzzard, and heavy and slow in its movements ; consequently it is unable to catch other 

 birds, or any but the weaker or smaller mammals, and its food consists almost entirely of insects, 

 mice, frogs, worms, lizards, &c., but more especially of the larvae of bees and wasps, from which 

 predilection it derives its name. It certainly cannot, as a rule, be looked on as an injurious bird 

 of prey, except that, as mentioned by Naumann, it is a most adroit and successful plunderer of 

 other birds' nests ; and the manner in which they follow and mob a Honey-Buzzard during the 

 breeding-season shows how greatly they fear him on account of their young. Too lazy and 

 clumsy to catch old birds, unless they are ill or crippled, it will sometimes kill and devour a 

 young bird or even a young hare ; but, so far as I can gather, these lapses from the proper path 



