HONEY BUZZARD. 
211 
the forenoon, the bird was again observed upon 
a tree within view of the traps, and apparently 
reeonnoitering the place, and it then allowed of 
a near approach. It would appear, that whatever 
suspicions it might have entertained, it had not 
long been able to resist the cravings of its appe- 
tite, as it was found in the evening secured by its 
leg in one of the traps. From its size, I con- 
jectured it to be a male, and such it proved upon 
dissection, and an adult bird, from the difference 
of colour, as contrasted with two birds of the 
year in my possession, as well as from the pure 
yellow of its cere and legs, those parts in the 
young being of a greenish grey. It measured 
twenty-one inches in extreme length, and three 
feet seven inches in extent of wing ; the cere was 
of a fine lemon yellow, the top of the bill bluish 
black, the iris dark bluish grey ; the tarsi about 
one and three-fourths inch in length, feathered 
in part about half way down, the naked part and 
feet yellow. The claws very little arched, but 
sharp; the tail long, fan-like, and extending 
beyond the closed wings about two inches and a 
half. The exterior plumage is of an uniform 
dark or umber brown, including the close-set 
feathers around the eyes, which, from their tiled 
disposition and firmness, appear well adapted to 
protect the face of the bird from the stings of 
hymenopterous insects. The bottom or lower 
