I02 FAUNA AND FLORA OF PALESTINE. 



The Sparrow Hawk is found in the Northern Old World, from 

 Ireland to Japan, and as far south as Northern India, South China, Egypt, 

 and Kordofan. 



209. Accipitcr brevipcs. Severzov. Bull. Soc. Imp. Nat. Mosc. xxxiii., 

 p. 234. Levant Sparrow Hawk. 



The Levant Sparrow Hawk does not appear to be common in 

 Palestine, but it may easily have been overlooked or mistaken for the 

 other species. I did not notice it till the spring. It is more stealthy in 

 its movements than the other, generally skimming the ground under 

 bushes and up watercourses. When in the hand it is at once recognised 

 by its short thick tarsi. 



This bird has a very limited range, and is nowhere abundant. It 

 appears to be confined to Southern Russia, Turkey, Asia Minor, and 

 Syria. 



210. Milvus idinus. Savigny. Syst. Ois. d'Egypte, p. 28. 

 Kite or Red Kite. Hebr., n\N{, A. V. 'Vulture.'* Arab., ^U, 

 Essaf. 



The Kite is very common in winter, and gregarious, tame, and fear- 

 less, often hovering over camps, or in rain sitting in rows motionless on 

 rocks or trees. Only a few pairs remain to breed, and that only in the 

 central and northern districts. 



The Red Kite, once so common in England, is now found but 

 sparingly throughout Europe and North-western Africa. Asia Minor 

 and Palestine seem to be its Eastern limits. 



It is perhaps the keenest-sighted of all the birds of prey, whence the 

 allusion in Job xxviii. 7, where A. V. reads ' Vulture.' 



211. Milvus viigrans. Bodd. Tabl. Planch. Enl., p. 28. Black 

 Kite. Hebr., HN"! or H^.f Arab., <)jIJc=., Hadaiyeh. 



No sooner has the Red Kite begun to retire northwards than the 

 Black Kite, never seen in winter, returns in immense numbers from the 

 south, and about the beginning of March scatters itself over the whole 

 country, preferring especially the neighbourhood of villages, where it is a 



* See Tristram, ' Natural History of the Bible,' p. 188. f Ibid, p. iSi. 



