SWALLOW-TAILED KITE, 347 



collection of Mr. A. Clapham, and two are in that of Mr. Young, 

 keeper, Blankney. The last was obtained three or four years 

 before 1879. 



One was preserved by Mr. R. Lee which had been obtained 

 near Thirkleby, about three miles from Thirsk. No date is 

 given, but it was since 1867. 



A male example in the Burton Agnes collection was caught 

 on the moors near Scarborough, but the date is not mentioned. 



Included in a sale at Stevens's rooms on 21st February 

 1905, was a " Yorkshire-killed kite 1880." 



The reports of the occurrence of this bird should be received 

 with caution, as my experience is that in the mountainous 

 portions of the county the Buzzard is usually known by the 

 names of Kite or Glead, and this is also the case in North 

 Wales, where the former synonym applies. It is not im- 

 probable, therefore that the " Glead " mentioned in the 

 Rev. Ed. Peake's " Avifauna of Ribblesdale " {Nat. 1896, 

 p. 42), as " occurring in the memory of the old dalesfolk, 

 especially near Wharfc and on Greygreth," is referable to 

 the Buzzard. The old Yorkshire name for the Kite was Gled, 

 Glead, or Greedy Gled, being derived from the Saxon " ghdan " 

 to glide, referrijig to the bird's sailing or gliding motions in 

 the air. Forktail was another name formerly in use in the 

 north country. 



[SWALLOW-TAILED KITE. 

 Elanoides furcatus (L.). 



The status of this American Kite, with regard to this 

 country, is of such a doubtful character that I have deemed 

 it advisable to merely quote the evidence respecting its 

 occurrence. 



Thomas AUis's Report, 1844, contains the following 

 allusion to this species : — 



Nauclerus furcatus. — Swallow-tail Kite — The only British specimen 

 of this elegant bird appears to have been taken alive at Shawgill, near 

 Hawes, in Wensleydale, on 6th September 1805. (See Yarrell's " British 

 Birds." Vol. I. p. 72.) 



