544 
BIRD-LIFE. 
movements are in the highest degree clumsy; its flight 
is bad, heavy, and slow, and is generally a short one, and 
the bird shows a great disinclination to rise to any con¬ 
siderable height in the air; in short, its whole bearing 
evinces the most lazy disposition. It will sit for hours 
on a stone boundary-wall, on a solitary tree or sign¬ 
post, or on some other elevated spot, quite contented, 
watching its prey, which consists of the following:— 
insects of all descriptions, beetles, caterpillars, dragonflies, 
gadflies, worms, frogs, snakes, lizards, and destructive 
rodents, which form its principal food; besides which it is 
very fond of hunting for the nests of the humble-bee and 
wasp, and feeding on their larvae. This bird also, unfor¬ 
tunately, destroys the young, and especially the eggs, of 
such of the smaller birds as it comes across while hunting 
for insects: this causes it to be looked upon as a 
disagreeable and hateful enemy by all birds. Crows and 
Eooks mob the Honey Buzzard with almost the same 
eagerness as they chase the Eagle Owl, and all small 
birds make a great noise at its appearance. In the 
summer it also feeds on buds, blossoms, bilberries, other 
wood-berries, and even leaves: this habit distinguishes it 
from all other German birds of prey. 
The Honey Buzzard reaches us somewhat late in the 
year, and commences to build its nest when the other 
Raptores have hatched their broods. The nest is very flat, 
and is placed on the highest of our forest trees: it is 
principally constructed of green twigs mixed with dead 
sticks, and is lined with moss, hair, and feathers; it 
generally contains three eggs of a rusty yellow ground, 
very thickly blotched and spotted with dark reddish 
brown; they are somewhat small, and rather long in 
shape; of these rarely more than two are hatched; the 
