10 EGGS OF BRITISH BIRDS. 



faint orange-red. The eggs of the Osprey are rarely faintly or 

 sparingly marked, and justly claim to rank as some of the hand- 

 somest in all the British series. In form they are not so round 

 as those of the true Falcons, and are also far more elongated than 

 those of the typical Eagles, being also somewhat coarse in texture. 

 They vary in length from 25 to 2'15 inches, and in breadth from 

 1-95 to 1-75 inch. 



THE SWALLOW-TAILED KITE. 



(Elanoides furcatus.) 

 Plate 5, Figs. 5, G. 



On two occasions at least this American species has been 

 captured in this country. Others have been reported, but two 

 instances only are believed to be genuine. 



It is a summer migrant to the Southern States of North 

 America, east of the Rocky Mountains, its breeding range exten- 

 ding somewhat further north, in the valley of the Mississippi, into 

 Southern Wisconsin. It winters in the West Indies and Central 

 America, where a few remain to breed in the mountains, wander- 

 ins into South America to Ecuador and to Brazil. Mr. W. L. 

 Balph writes that it nests in Florida, beginning about the first 

 week in April in the more southern portions of its breeding-range, 

 and correspondingly later further north, sometimes not before 

 the first or second week in June. Two eggs are generally laid, 

 occasionally but one, and rarely three or four. The eggs are 

 spotted and blotched with different shades of rich brown and 

 ferruginous, usually irregular in outline, and varying considerably 

 in amount. These markings sometimes form an irregular band 

 running from the centre to the smaller end, and frequently become 

 confluent. Occasionally a specimen is found in which the mark- 

 ings are very few and small in size, scarcely any being larger than 

 a No. 10 shot, and the majority smaller. In a few specimens 

 light lavender-coloured shell-markings, generally of small size, 

 are also visible. There is a great deal of difference in the style 

 and markings of these eggs, if a number be compared, but they 

 can readily be distinguished from the eggs of any of the American 

 Raptores.* 



* Cf. Bendire : "Life Histories of North American Birds." — pp. 171-173. 



