62 BULLETIN 16 7, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



pactly built that it held water" and, after a storm, the eggs were 

 "almost submerged"; the nest was subsequently deserted. 



He agrees with other observers as to the recent disappearance of 

 these kites, saying: "Occasional birds were recorded in the last 

 decade but at the present w^riting (1932) the birds seem to have dis- 

 appeared from almost every point simultaneously." As to the cause 

 of its decline, he says : 



This Kite is peculiarly friendly and unsuspicious and therefore exceptionally 

 easy to shoot. This is particularly true during the nesting period. Through 

 a mistaken belief that the bird proy.s on quail, ducks, and other game birds the 

 kites have been widely shot by hunters, gamekeepers, and ranchers. The 

 "hunts" of gun clubs instituted by the various cartridge companies to extermi- 

 nate owls, hawks, jays, and crows (these hunts are a curse of the present 

 generation) have been largely responsible for the extermination of these 

 beautiful birds. In a number of cases I have actually been able to prevent 

 the birds being shot. In some instances I have found that the rather close 

 resemblances this kite bears to the ^inaller gulls, as Bonaparte's and the kitti- 

 wake, has also prevented it from being killed. 



DISTKIBUTION 



Range. — The Southern United States south to central South 

 America ; accidental in central and northern States. Not considered 

 migratory and now apparently almost extinct in North America. 



Although the white-tailed kite is a transcontinental species, its 

 range (in the United States) is more or less discontinuous, there 

 being great areas from which it is practically or entirely unknown. 

 The range extends north to central California (Geyserville, St. 

 Helena, and Stockton) ; Oklahoma (Fort Arbuckle) ; and Florida 

 (near Lake Kissimmee). East to Florida (near Lake Kissimmee 

 and Fort Myers) ; eastern British Guiana (Demerara River) ; east- 

 ern Brazil (Porto Real, Bahia, and Itarare) ; and eastern Argentina 

 (Concepcion, Baradero, and Buenos Aires). South to Argentina 

 (Buenos Aires); and Chile (Arauco). West to Chile (Arauco and 

 Santiago) ; northwestern Argentina (Tucuman) ; northern Brazil 

 (Forte de San Joaquim) ; western British Guiana (Mount Roraima) ; 

 Lower California (San Carlos and Cape Colnett) ; and California 

 (Alamitos, Saticoy, Santa Barbara, Hollister, San Jose, Santa Clara, 

 Lake Merced, Nicasio, and Geyserville). 



The range as outlined is for the entire species, but the United 

 States form, E. I. ?najusculus, is not knowii south of Lower Cali- 

 fornia. 



Casual records. — Audubon recorded the white-tailed kite as breed- 

 ing on the Santee River, S. C, but Wayne (1910) believes this to 

 be an error. A specimen was recorded from Marthas Vineyard, 

 Mass., on May 30, 1910; one was shot near Kenner, La., on October 



