Zoological museum, thing. 21 
palumbarius} and the Sparrow-Hawk (A. nisus), both 
British and both fierce destroyers of bird-life; of 
the Harriers, Montagu’s Harrier {Circus cineraceus'), 
the Hen-Harrier ((7. cyaneus'), the Marsh-Harrier 
(C. aeruginosus), all British, and others. 
The Honey-Buzzard {Pernis apivorus') is a large 
but harmless bird, principally feeding on wasps and 
their larvae, which is now of extreme rarity in the 
British Isles, while it was formerly much more frequent. 
It is a pity that the ignorance of most gamekeepers, 
who do not often distinguish between harmless and 
harmful “ Hawks,” has nearly exterminated this in- 
teresting bird in England, as well as the Common 
Buzzard and Kite. The latter, also called the Red 
Kite, Milvus milvus (or regalis), used to be common 
too, but is now extremely rare, and restricted to 
some forests in Scotland and Wales. In the fifteenth 
and sixteenth centuries the Kite used to be so 
plentiful as to act as a scavenger in the London 
streets. The writer, however, having had frequent 
opportunities of observing the Kite on the Con- 
tinent, and its congener the Black Kite (^Milvus 
korschun), found the latter much inclined to assume 
scavenger habits, the Red Kite on the other hand 
much more shy and retiring, and he has therefore 
a strong suspicion that the London scavenger 
Kites were Black Kites, although this bird has, 
to our knowledge, only once occurred in Great 
Britain during this century, while another specimen 
