SWALLOW-TAILED KITE 45 



States. I have never seen it anywhere but in southern Florida, 

 where it is still fairly common. Here we may look for its arrival 

 early in March; Harold H. Bailey's (1925) earliest date is March 

 3 ; but Charles J. Pennock tells me that he has seen it at St. Marks 

 as early as February 28. Audubon (1840) says: "In the States of 

 Louisiana and Mississippi, where these birds are abundant, they ar- 

 rive in large companies, in the beginning of April, and are heard 

 uttering a sharp plaintive note. At this period I generally re- 

 marked that they came from the westward, and have counted up- 

 wards of a hundred in the space of an hour, passing over me in a 

 direct easterly course." 



I first made my acquaintance with this beautiful species in the 

 Cape Sable region of extreme southern Florida. Wliile crossing 

 the narrow strip of prairie between Flamingo and Alligator Lake, 

 we saw seven of these lovely birds sailing about over the prairie, 

 soaring in circles high overhead, or scaling along close to the ground, 

 like glorified swallows. They seemed to be quartering the ground 

 systematically in the search for prey, for, as they circled, they gradu- 

 ally moved along over new ground. It was a joy to watch their 

 graceful movements and a pity to disturb them, but my companion, 

 the late Louis A. Fuertes, and I both wanted specimens. We con- 

 cealed ourselves in the long grass and had not long to v/ait before 

 we had two of the birds down on the ground and five others hov- 

 ering over them, after the manner of terns, uttering their weak 

 squealing or whistling notes. We shot no more ; they were too beau- 

 tiful; and we were rapt in admiration of their graceful lines, the 

 purity of their contrasting colors, and the beautiful grapelike bloom 

 on their backs and wings, which so soon disappears in museum 

 specimens. I shall never forget the loving reverence with which the 

 noted bird artist admired his specimen, as he began at once to sketch 

 its charms. 



Courtshi'p. — I have never seen what I was sure was a courtship 

 performance, but apparently this consists of spectacular aerial evolu- 

 tions. Major Bendire (1892) quotes J. W. Preston as follows: 



Of all aerial performances I have ever witnessed, the mating of the Swallow- 

 tailed Kite excels. Ever charming and elegant, they outdo themselves at this 

 season. In the spring of 1886 they chose as their mating ground an open space 

 over the mouth of an ice-cold brook that made its way out from a dark tangled 

 larch swamp. From my boat on the lake I had an excellent view of them. All 

 the afternoon seven of these matchless objects sported, chasing each other here 

 and there, far and near, sailing along in easy curves, floating, falling, and rising, 

 then darting with meteor-like swiftness, commingling and separating with an 

 abandon and airy ease that is difficult to imagine. 



Col. N. S. Goss (1891) says: "I once saw a pair of these birds in 

 the act of copulation. They were sitting on a small, horizontal limb, 



