SWALLOW-TAILED KITE 49 



Plumages. — I have seen but two rather large nestlings of the swal- 

 low-tailed kite. The smaller one, largely downy, was covered with 

 short, thick, white down, faintly tinged with yellowish, and glossy 

 black feathers were sprouting in the wings and tail. In the larger 

 bird the back was well covered with black feathers, narrowly edged 

 with white ; "cinnamon-buff" or buffy-white feathers were appearing 

 on the breast, belly, crown, and hind neck. 



I have not seen a fully grown young bird in fresh juvenal plumage, 

 but older birds in summer have lost the white edgings on the mantle 

 and the buff colors on the under parts, probably by wear and fading ; 

 but August birds still have the dusky shaft streaks on the crown and 

 breast, which gradually fade and probably disappear at the fall 

 molt; in this plumage the mantle is browner than in adults, with 

 greenish rather than purplish reflections, and the grapelike bloom 

 is lacking; the wing and tail feathers and the primary coverts are 

 narrowly tipped with white. 



I have been unable to find any molt of the flight feathers in 

 August birds (5 examined) and infer that this molt is accomplished 

 after the birds leave for the south. 



Food. — The food of the swallow-tailed kite consists mainly of 

 small reptiles, amphibians, and insects. Dr. A. K. Fisher (1893) 

 says that "it never molests small mammals and birds"; and some 

 other observers agree with him. But George Finlay Simmons (1925) 

 includes in its food "field mice, young Western Mockingbirds and 

 Texas Painted Buntings which it takes on the wing from nests in 

 mesquite growth." On the whole its food habits are neither bene- 

 ficial nor particularly harmful. Its food includes small snakes, for 

 which it is often called "snake hawk", lizards, frogs, and tree toads. 

 It feeds very largely on grasshoppers, locusts, crickets, cicadas, 

 beetles of various kinds, bees, wasp grubs, dragonflies, cotton worms, 

 and various other insects. Practically all its food is procured on the 

 wing and eaten while flying. Audubon (1840) says: 



They dive In rapid succession amongst the branches, glancing along the trunks, 

 and seizing in their course the insects and small lizards of which they are 

 in quest. Their motions are astonishingly rapid, and the deep curves which 

 they describe, their sudden doublings and crossings, and the extreme ease with 

 which they seem to cleave the air, excite the admiration of him who views 

 them while thus employed in searching for food. * * * In calm and warm 

 weather, they soar to an immense height, pursuing the large insects called 

 Musquito Hawks, and performing the most singular evolutions that can be 

 conceived, using their tail with an elegance of motion peculiar to themselves. 

 Their principal food, however, is large grasshoppers, grass-caterpillars, small 

 snakes, lizards, and frogs. They sweep close over the fields, sometimes seem- 

 ing to alight for a moment to secure a snake, and holding it fast by the neck, 

 carry it off, and devour it in the air. * * * 



The Fork-tailed Hawks are also very fond of frequenting the creeks, which, 

 in that country, are much encumbered with drifted logs and accumulations 



