THE COMMON KITE. 



MILVUS REGALIS. 



Upper parts reddish browTi ; the feathers with pale edges ; those of the head ana 

 neck long and tapering to a point, greyish white, streaked longitudinally with 

 brown; lowerparts rust coloured, with longitudinal brown streaks ; tail reddish 

 orange, ban-ed indistinctly with brown ; beak horn coloured ; cere, irides, and 

 feet yellow ; claws black. Female- — upper plumage of a deeper brown ; the 

 feathers pale at the extremity ; head and neck white. Length, twenty-five 

 inches ; breadth five feet six inches. Eggs dirty white, spotted at the larger 

 end with red-brown. 



" The Kite," Pliny informs us, " seems, by the movement 

 of its tail, to have taught mankind the art of steering, — 

 nature pointing out in the air what is necessary in the 

 sea." The movement of the bu'd through the air indeed 

 resembles sailing more than flying. " One cannot," says 

 Buff on, "but admire the manner in which the flight of 

 the Eate is performed ; his long and narrow wings seem 

 motionless ; it is his tail that seems to direct aU his 



