MISSISSIPPI KITE 65 



oak; they usually select the sweetgiim because of its dense foliage 

 and the tall erect form of the tree." 



In his excellent article (1902) on this kite he describes the nest- 

 building activities as follows: 



On looking up I was surprised to find them soaring high in the air, apparently 

 with nothing more upon their mind than to satisfy their appetites. Suddenly, 

 however, one of them remained stationary for a second, then with half-closed 

 wings came swift as an arrow down through the trees and reappeared above 

 my head with an oak twig in his talons ; wheeling, he sailed swiftly upward 

 to a crotch in a gum trie, which showed a bunch of sticks, the beginning of 

 a nest. Only for a moment did he remain ; then, dropping over one side of 

 the nest, he sailed upward and rejoined his mate. 



For over an hour and a half I lay there and watched them slowly con- 

 structing their nest ; both birds worked, darting in among the ti'ees as oa 

 the first occasion, and reappearing with either a twig or spray of green 

 leaves. At last, as the midday hour began to cast short shadows, one of 

 the birds perched on the edge of the nest, while its mate lit on the topmost 

 branch of a Cottonwood tree some two hundred yards away. 



He says that the nests are very difficult to see as the birds "show 

 a great preference for the tip-top branches of gum and cottonwood 

 trees whose dense foliage is almost impenetrable to the eye." One 

 big cottonwood tree that he felled and measured was over 2I/2 feet in 

 diameter and 131 feet high; the nest in it had been 119 feet above 

 the ground. 



Another nest that he examined was "composed of sticks and twigs 

 with a thick lining of locust, gum, thorn and other green leaves"; 

 it measured "25 inches from tip to tip of the longest twigs, while 

 the width of the nest proper was 14 inches, the area covered with 

 green leaves being 6 inches square. The nest as usual was almost 

 flat on top." 



In certain parts of Texas this kite nests in mesquite trees at such 

 extremely low elevations as 4, 5, or 6 feet above the ground, making 

 small nests lined with mesquite leaves. In Louisiana, according to 

 George E. Beyer (Bendire, 1892), "the nests are placed in the tops 

 of loblolly pines {Pinus taeda) or white oaks {Quercus aiha), at a 

 height of from 50 to 60 feet. Pine woods are the favorite localities." 



The highest nests of which I can find any record are reported by 

 Arthur T. Wayne (1910) in South Carolina; one was 111 feet and 

 another 135 feet from the ground in the tops of gigantic short-leaf 

 pines. He says that a pair nested within a mile of his house for 

 ten years and for five years used the same nest. Other observers have 

 noted that these kites often use the same nest for several years in 

 succession. They also often return to their own nest after a lapse 

 of a few years and sometimes appropriate an old crow's nest. The 

 great variation in the height of the nest indicates that the kites select 

 their nesting site where they can find the best food supply regardless 



