EVERGLADE KITE 73 



feet high, in a sawgrass slough; it was made of sticks and leaf- 

 bearing twigs, with both dry and green leaves, and was lined with 

 fine twigs and bay leaves. 



C. J. Maynard (1896) seems to have been the first to discover the 

 nest of this species. His first nest "was small, flat in form, composed 

 of sticks somewhat carelessly arranged, and was placed on the top 

 of the grass [sawgrass] which supported it and which grew so lux- 

 uriantly at this point that it bore" him up as he "was endeavoring 

 to reach the nest." About three weeks later, on March 24, he found 

 another nest in a magnolia bush ; "it was placed about four feet from 

 the water, was quite flat, about a foot in diameter, was composed 

 of sticks quite carelessly arranged, lined with a few dry heads of 

 sawgrass and contained one egg." 



Bendire (1892) quotes J. F. Menge as writing to him: "According 

 to my observations the female does not assist in the building of the 

 nest. I have watched these birds for hours. She sits in the im- 

 mediate vicinitj^ of the nest and watches while the male builds it. 

 The male will bring a few twigs and alternate this work at the same 

 time by supplying his mate with snails, until the structure is 

 completed." 



Bendire continues : 



A nest of tliis species now before me, taken by Mr. Menge, and kindly for- 

 warded, measures IG by 13 inches in diameter, and is about 8 inches thick. 

 It is not an artistic looking structure, but rather carelessly put together. 

 The base consists of dry willow twigs, some of them half un inch in diameter ; 

 the greater portion are, however, smaller. The inner cavity is about 7 inches 

 wide by 1% inches deep. This is lined with small stems of a vine and a few 

 willow leaves. The latter look as if the twigs, to which some of them are still 

 attached, might have been broken off by the birds while green ; the first men- 

 tioned material predominates in the lining. * * * 



Donald J. Nicholson (1926), who has had considerable experience 

 with this kite, has found as many as 10 nests in one day ; these were 

 in two separate colonies about 150 yards apart. Three of the nests 

 were in sawgrass clumps, but all the others were built in dead or 

 partly dead myrtles, 3 to 7i/^ feet above water. He says of one nest : 

 "The nest was a fairly compact structure, about one foot deep, and 

 fifteen inches across, with a hollow for the eggs, three and one-half 

 inches deep. Upon nearing the nest the female flew towards me with 

 a cackling note similar to that of an Osprey, but finer in tone, and 

 not so loud. Soon the male appeared, scolding with notes exactly 

 like those of the female. At times they both circled around to- 

 gether, again only one flew around while the other sat perched on 

 a myrtle nearby." 



A set of four eggs in my collection is said to have been taken 

 from a "nest of sticl^ and grasses on the ground in a dense marshy 



83561—37 6 



