Identifier: royalnaturalhist47lyde (find matches)
Title: The royal natural history
Year: 1893 (1890s)
Authors: Lydekker, Richard, 1849-1915 Sclater, Philip Lutley, 1829-1913 Frostick, W. B., former owner. DSI Brooks, W. T., former owner. DSI
Subjects: Zoology Natural history
Publisher: London and New York : Frederick Warne & Co.
Contributing Library: Smithsonian Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: Smithsonian Libraries

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in birds of the first and second year.Generally speaking, it may be said, howevei-, that the adult male (as shown in ourupper figure) has an ashy grey head, brown upper-parts, with the feathers HONE Y-B UZZARD. 195 margined with a lighter tint, and having a dark median streak; and the tail palebrown, with the extreme tip whitish, and marked by three dark transverse bars.Beneath, the plumage is white, narrowly streaked with brown, such streaksexpanding on the sides of the body into spade-shaped markings. As in our ligure,there may be some white on the tips of the wing-feathers. The iris is straw-coloured, the beak black, and the feet yellow with black claws. Young birds, asshown in the lower ligure of our illustration, are generally brown or yellowishbrown, with the shafts of the feathers distinctly streaked with black, and theunder-parts more rufous than the upper surface. The ashy brown tail is broadlytipped with huffish white, and is crossed by two distinct chocolate bars, one near
Text Appearing After Image:
HONET-BUZZAHDS (i nat. size). the end and the other near the middle, between which are a number of imperfectdark bars. The iris is hazel. The length of the adult bird is about 25^ inches,so that it may be compared in size to a kite. The honey - buzzard rangesover the greater part of Europe, and probably occurs in several parts ofNorthern Asia, as it has been recorded from Japan and near Pekin. In Swedenit breeds within the Arctic Circle, and it has frequently nested in England.During the Avinter it migrates to Arabia, Africa, and Madagascar. In India it isreplaced by the crested honey-buzzard (P. pfi?o?7i?/7?c/a(s); a species rangingthrough the Malayan region, distinguished by tlie crest of the adults, and re-markable for its great individual variation, some individuals being li^jht fulvous,while others are nearly black. A third species (P. celebensis) inhabits Celebes. 196 DIURNAL BIRDS OF PREY. The honey-buzzard derives its name from its habit of feeding on the larvf\3 ofbees and wa

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