138 THE NESTS AND EGGS OF 



was recorded by Audubon. Although this graceful bird 

 is so common in certain districts, but Httle has been 

 recorded of its nidification or of its habits during the 

 season of reproduction. According to Audubon, this 

 Kite pairs directly after its arrival, and the courtship is 

 carried on in mid-air like that of the Swift. The nest 

 is described by this naturalist as being made in the 

 highest branches of lofty trees growing on the banks of 

 a pond or river, and resembling that of a crow, composed 

 externally of sticks intermixed with moss and lined with 

 coarse grass and feathers. No recent observer appears 

 to have described the nest of this bird from personal 

 observation. Mr. Dresser states that in Texas he was 

 assured that this species nested in oak, cotton-wood, and 

 sycamore trees. 



Range of egg colouration and measurement : 

 The eggs of the Swallow-tailed Kite are said by 

 Audubon to be from four to six in number, but other 

 observers assert that two is the regular clutch. I have 

 only examined two eggs of this species, and they are, or 

 were, in the collection of Mr. Dresser and were taken in 

 Iowa. Mr. Raine [pp. clt., pi. iv. p. 130) figures an ^gg of 

 this species, very richly marked on the larger end. They 

 are the palest of blue — almost white — in ground colour, 

 spotted and blotched with deep reddish-brown. One of 

 Mr. Dresser's eggs is handsomely blotched over most of 

 the surface ; the other is sparingly and minutely speckled, 

 with only one or two irregular blotches. Average mea- 

 surement of three specimens, 1*9 inch in length by 

 I '5 inch in breadth. Incubation period unknown. 



Diagnostic characters : The bluish ground colour 

 and bold blotches, combined with the size, are sufficient 

 to determine the eggs of this species. They closely 

 resemble those of the Sparrow-Hawk or even the Sharp- 

 shinned Hawk in colour, but are much larger. 



