The CRESTED BUZZARDS (_Spilornis_) are a group of very remarkable birds, inhabiting the most southern countries of Asia and Africa. Such species as we are acquainted with are of considerable size, and powerfully built; their pointed wings, in which the fourth quill is the longest, extend to the middle of the tail; the latter is of moderate length, and rounded at the extremity; the tarsus is high, and the talons short and sharp; the beak, which is straight at the base, curves abruptly towards its tip; the margin of the upper mandible is without teeth, whilst that of the lower one is excised near the extremity. The plumage is thick, and prolonged into a crest at the back of the head. THE BACHA. The BACHA (_Spilornis Bacha_), the species we select as an example of this group, is described by Le Vaillant as from twenty-two to twenty-four inches long, of which ten belong to the tail. The plumage is a dusky greyish brown, darkest upon the upper parts of the body; all the feathers upon the borders of the wings, lower portion of the breast, belly, and legs are marked with three or four round, white spots, standing out, by contrast, very distinctly from the dark body; the wings are blackish brown, and the feathers upon their covers bordered with greyish white; the crest is white, tipped with black, as are also the feathers on the brow. The eye is brownish red, the cere and feet yellow, and the beak greyish blue. The Bacha is found throughout the interior of Southern Africa, Java, Nepaul, and China. According to Le Vaillant, it frequents the most barren and mountainous districts of the countries it inhabits, subsisting upon a variety of small quadrupeds, reptiles, and insects. It passes a solitary life, after the manner of our Buzzard, and is but rarely met with. The voice of this species is very melancholy. The breeding season commences in December; the eyrie, which is most carelessly constructed, is placed in holes of rocks, and usually contains from two to three eggs. Bernstein tells us that such of these birds as inhabit Java live upon the outskirts of the woods, or amongst the groups of trees growing near the villages. In such localities the nest is also built, a thickly-foliaged tree being usually selected for the purpose. The same author describes the eggs as being of a dull white, marked with irregular streaks and spots of reddish brown, which usually lie thickest towards the two ends. * * * * * Other species of Crested Buzzards are met with in the Philippine Islands, Ceylon, and India. THE HONEY BUZZARD.