298 



NATURAL HISTORY OF BIRDS. 



of very similar form and habits to the swallow-tail, but mucli smaller and of less strik- 

 ing appearance, the upper parts being merely ashy and dusky, entirely lacking the 

 deep black so conspicuous in the American bird. 



In the kites thus far mentioned, the bill is comparatively short and broad, though 

 not particularly strong. There is a group of American kites, however, which are very 

 different from these, and in which the bill is lengthened, slender, and with a remarka- 

 bly long and sharp hook. The hook-billed kite, Mostrhamus hamatus, of South 

 America, is a good example of the group, and appears to have precisely the same 

 habits as its somewhat more northern relative, the everglade-kite, JR. sociabilis, which 





FIG. 139. Ictinia subcserulea, Mississippi kite, and Elanoides forficatus, swallow-tailed kite. 



occurs in some numbers in the Everglades of Florida. These birds seem to be 

 unusually sociable for birds of prey, several being usually observed together, but it is 

 questionable if this habit is more strongly developed here than in other species of the 

 Milvinae. 



Perhaps the most interesting thing in connection with the present genus is the 

 entirely unexpected nature of its food. "We should naturally expect a bird of this 

 conformation to take much of its food on the wing, and should be prepared to find 

 that winged insects or active reptiles, such as lizards, made up the bulk of it, although 

 neither of these suppositions would provide an adequate explanation of the long- 



