THE KITE 183 



But, in order to fully appreciate the flying prowess 

 of the kite, it is necessary to have been the victim of 

 his larceny. You are perhaps eating a solitary break- 

 fast, in the open, and your thoughts are far away. 

 Suddenly you become aware of a presence, and a 

 second later you behold a kite elegantly sailing away, 

 carrying in its claws the mutton chop you were about 

 to eat ! I have seen a kite swoop down, snatch away 

 a bone from between a dog's paws, and be out of 

 reach before the dog had realized what had happened. 



Mr. Jesse, in his account of the birds of Lucknow, 

 writes : " On one occasion my khansama was walking 

 across the compound with a bone on a plate when 

 down swooped a kite and seized the bone, which, how- 

 ever, it dropped, knocking off the man's turban." On 

 another occasion a kite carried off a tame squirrel from 

 the shelter of its master's arms. 



Well has Lockwood Kipling written of the athletic 

 bird : " The kite is a notorious thief; no other creature 

 is so splendidly equipped for larceny, for no other can 

 snatch so unerringly and escape so securely." " When 

 the kite builds look to lesser linen," says Autolycus. 

 In addition to possessing marvellous powers of flight 

 and accurate steering, the kite is able to use its claws 

 as hands. It does not seize its food with its beak, as 

 most birds do ; it snatches it away with its claws, and, 

 unless the stolen object is too large to be swallowed 

 entire, transfers it to its mouth during flight. 



It is interesting to compare the methods of the kite 

 with those of its rival thief, the crow. When the latter 

 bird espies something edible, he looks all round him 



