56 BULLETIN 16 7, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



although other trees are also made use of whose foliage securely con- 

 ceals the nest during incubation." 



The impression I gained from men I talked with in California and 

 from my own limited experience there was that this kite shows a 

 decided preference for the vicinity of water, fresh-water marshes 

 and streams; in such places it finds its food readily available all 

 through the year, and it probably does not wander far away even in 

 winter. According to Audubon (1840) it was found in similar 

 haunts in Texas and Florida. 



Nesting. — The white-tailed kite nests in a variety of situations. 

 Usually the nesting pairs are widely separated, but sometimes sev- 

 eral pairs may be located near each other in favorable situations. 

 Two of the nests studied by Dr. Pickwell (1930) were in "valley oaks 

 {Quercus lohata), and the third a coast live oak {Quercus agrifolia). 

 The three formed an oblique or scalene triangle on the rolling hills 

 with the longest side 320 yards and the others 200 and 175 yards re- 

 spectively. To anyone conversant with the wide spacing of most 

 raptorial birds this juxtaposition of the Kite nest territories seems 

 unusual — indeed, so much in contrast with their near-relatives, semi- 

 communal." The data, which he compiled from the literature cited, 

 show that 11 nests were in live oaks, 3 or more in unspecified oaks, 2 

 or more in sycamores, and 1 in a maple. The heights from the 

 ground varied from 18 to 50 feet ; another that he measured was 59 

 feet. The nests were made of sticks and twigs of oaks in most cases, 

 one being made of willow twigs. They were lined with grasses, dry 

 stubble, barley straw, weed stems, rootlets, or Spanish moss. Some 

 were described as flat, flimsy structures, and others were large, well- 

 made, substantial, and deeply hollowed. Of five references that de- 

 scribe nesting sites, "two describe foothills (with oaks), two stream 

 banks (or marshes with live oaks and willow groves nearby), and 

 one a willow swamj)." 



Dr. B. W. Evermann wrote to Major Bendire that his first nest 

 "was near the end of one of the topmost limbs of a cottonwood." 

 Chester Barlow (1897), for one season at least, indulged in the bad 

 practice of robbing the kites of their second sets. He found that 

 they required about three weeks, or from 19 to 23 days, to lay a 

 second set after the first set had been taken. These birds will almost 

 always make a second attempt to raise a brood, in which they should 

 not be discouraged, for whether they will make a third attempt or 

 not is an open question. 



I can add a little from my limited personal experience with the 

 nesting habits of the white-tailed kite, as two of the three nests I 

 saw were in situations different from any mentioned above. I was 

 told that there were about six pairs of these kites nesting on an 

 island in the Suisun Bay marshes. On April 15, 1929, my informant, 



