10 BRITISH BIRDS’ EGGS. 
HONEY BUZZARD. 
Pernis aprvonus, Linn. 
Pl. IIL, fig. 5. 
Geogr. distr.—Western Palearctic Region, migrating to Africa for 
the winter; very rare in Great Britain. 
Food.—Insecets, reptiles, small birds and mammals, as rats, mice, 
young rabbits, &e. 
Nest.—Formed of twigs lined with fresh leaves or wool, or the 
deserted nest of a Kite or Buzzard similarly lined. 
Position of nest.—In trees (near to the trunk) at a height of from 
twenty-five to fifty feet from the ground in groves or dense forests. 
Number of eggs.—2-4; generally 2. 
Time of nidification.—V-VI. 
It is supposed that this bird was formerly commoner in 
the British Islands than at present; any way, it is now a 
rare bird with us: it has bred in Northumberland, Stafford- 
shire, Shropshire and Northamptonshire in comparatively 
recent times, and it still breeds in the New Forest. A few 
instances of its breeding in Scotland and Ireland have been 
recorded. 
It is said that the Honey Buzzard generally builds its 
nest in a tall oak, between twenty-five and fifty feet from 
the ground, and that it is composed of dead sticks (some 
of them as thick as one’s finger), to which lichens are 
adhering ; that the interior is formed of twigs, and lined 
with wool and fresh oak and beech leaves; also that the 
parent birds surround it with a kind of bower of leafy 
boughs, which are renewed as the leaves wither. 
The name of Honey Buzzard was given to this species on 
account of its habit of destroying the nests of bees and 
wasps for the purpose of feeding upon the grubs contained 
in the cells. 
This species nearly resembles the Common Buzzard, but, 
according to Seebohm, ‘“‘may at once be distinguished by 
the scales on the tarsus, which are finely reticulated all 
round instead of being in broad plates at the front and 
back.” The lores are also ‘finely feathered down to the 
cere instead of being only covered with bristles.” 
