SWALLOW-TAILED KITE 283 



greater part of the country the Eagle is harmless 

 and should be protected ; but in places where it 

 cannot get its natural food, and so carries off 

 sheep and other domestic animals, it should not 

 be allowed to become too abundant. 



Swallow-tailed Kite : Elamides forficatus. 



(Plate XX. p. 284.) 



Geographic Distribution. — United States, north to North 

 Carolina and Minnesota, and casually to Massachusetts, Mani- 

 toba, and Assiniboia, southward throughout Central and 

 South America, breeding locally throughout its range. 



As its name suggests, the Swallow-tailed Kite 

 has a forked tail like that of the Barn Swallow. 

 The Barn Swallow, the Nighthawk, and the 

 Long-tailed Pigeons rank with it in contrast to 

 the Short-tailed Sparrows, Wrens, and Swifts ; 

 and as the Kite has long, slender wings, it is ena- 

 bled to live almost exclusively in air. Just what 

 part the tail plays in the flight of birds is a most 

 interesting question. Though many of its pecul- 

 iar developments seem to be of purely aesthetic 

 value, merely sexual characters, other tails appear 

 to have weight in the more ordinary affairs of 

 life — such as steering for a fly. Careful observa- 

 tions will do much to clear up all such problems, 

 it is to be hoped, within the next few years of 

 extended field-work. 



The Kite, in any case, is a true aeronaut. As 

 it flies it wall actually reach do\vn and eat the 



