176 WILD TII-I-: IN CHINA 



the hills. He might easily be mistaken when at rest for the 

 male of the hen harrier, were it not for his smaller size, the 

 blue kite being only about a foot in length. But his gre\-blue 

 head, back, and tail recall Ciroiis Cvcr/a^»SMnale it a moment, 

 and the resemblance is increased by the white breast and 

 belly. The iris i^ a bright scarlet, the cere and feet golden, 

 so that altogether in appearance, the blue kite is a credit to 

 his kind. The reason why he is known as the black-winged 

 is that his wing feathers are considered darker than the tint 

 of his back, the primary coverts being very nearly, if not 

 quite, black. He is said to feed mainly on small birds, 

 insects and mice. These he hunts down after the manner of 

 the harrier rather than of the falcon, seizing them on the 

 ground. Indeed the black-winged kite has not a little in 

 common with the harrier besides the remarkable resemblance 

 in colour, for it quarters the ground at times as he does, and 

 has even been seen to hover for an instant to gain a better 

 view of the ground below. It will whip insects off the stalks 

 of plants or the branches of trees, this of course being done 

 on the wing, but with this exception its prey is taken stand- 

 ing, mice being probably its principal dit^t. There is a muskj^ 

 odour attached to this bird which serves to identify it. Its 

 egg would seem to mark it off as an intermediary between 

 Astiir and Buteo. It certainly has more of the characteristics, 

 from outward appearance, of the falcons than of the 

 true kites. 



J ^^^;^-E_f~-~. 



