NATURAL HISTORY. 



MILVUS. (Lat. a Kite.} 



205 



Regalis (Lat. royal], the Kite. 



more than two feet ; the fourth primary feather is the longest, 

 the first and seventh nearly equal. 



The SWALLOW-TAILED FALCON is an inhabitant of North 

 America, but has been twice taken in England. It feeds on 

 the wing, like the swallows, pursuing the large moths and 

 other insects with an ease and rapidity for which its formation 

 eminently fits it. These insects are however not the only 

 food of this bird. Audubon mentions that " Their principal 

 food is large grasshoppers, grass caterpillars, small snakes, 

 lizards, and frogs. They sweep close over the fields, some- 

 times seeming to secure a snake, and holding it fast by the 

 neck, carry it off, and devour it in the air." This act is shown 

 in the figure on p. 20G. Its nest is built on the summit of an 

 aged pine or oak, and its eggs are from four to six in number, 

 of a greenish white colour, irregularly spotted with brown at 

 the large end. The length of this bird is two feet. It should 



