TflE HONEY-KITES. 
177 
Neotropical Region especially by the Double-toothed Kite- 
Falcons {IJarpagtis). 
The Honey-Kites are found throughout temperate Europe 
and Asia as far as Japan, and occur throughout the whole of 
India, Ceylon, the Malay countries and islands, and China, 
'fhey visit Africa only on migration, and are unknown in the 
Australian Region. 
The members of this genus have the lores densely feathered, 
and the plumes of the face are very short and scaly in appear- 
ance, the feet are weak, and the toes are not suited for killing 
prey in full flight. The nostril is an oblique oval of a some- 
what irregular shape. The wings are long, and the tail is 
rounded as in Elanus. There is a peculiar softness about the 
plumage of these Honey-Kites, which is shared by the mem- 
bers of the genera Baza, Henicopernis, and Harpagus, and shows 
that these Birds of Prey are related to each other, forming, in 
fact, links between the True Kites and the True Falcons. 
I. THE HONEY-KITE. PERNIS APIVORUS. 
Falco apivorus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 130 (1766). 
Perms apivorus, Macg. Brit. B. iii. p. 254 (1840) ; Newton, ed. 
Yarr. Brit. B. i. p. 121 (1871); Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. 
i. p. 344 (1874); Dresser, B. Eur. vi. p. 3, pis. 365, 366 
(1875); Seeb. Brit. B. i. p. 69 (1883)7 B. O. U. List 
Brit. B. p. 100 (1883) ; Saunders, Man. Brit. B. p. 328 
(1889); Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. part xxvii. (1893). 
{Plate XL/X.) 
Adult Male.— General colour above brown, with slightly paler 
margins to the feathers, which are black-shafted 7 on the nape 
a spot of white, caused by the white bases to the feathers 7 
greater coverts and quills darker brown at their ends, exter- 
nally shaded with grey, and having two broad bars at the base, 
which is whitish below 7 the inner webs, particularly of the 
secondaries, with slight greyish frecklings ; upper tail-coverts 
rather paler brown than tire back, barred with white near the 
base, and having obsolete white tips 7 tail pale brown, narrowly 
tipped with whitish, the base also mottled with white 7 the 
tail-feathers crossed with three bands, one near the base ratlier 
paler brown, one in the middle and one just before the tip of the 
8 N 
