i84 BOMBAY DUCKS 



to see if the coast is clear ; then he hops or sidles up 

 to the desired object, and, having again taken a look 

 round, seizes the food with his beak. A kite, on the 

 other hand, directly he catches sight of anything 

 edible, swoops down and snatches it with his claws. 

 If a crow and a kite "spot" a piece of meat simul- 

 taneously, the kite will have carried it off before the 

 crow has finished wondering whether he can safely 

 approach the object. 



I have sometimes known a kite miss the object at 

 which it was aiming. But this was invariably due to 

 nervousness ; the kite does not quite like taking any- 

 thing from the hand of that mysterious creature, man. 

 It feels that this is a risky operation, and resorts to it 

 only when very hard put to it to obtain food. 



Kites and crows live side by side, feed upon the same 

 food, and obtain it in similar ways, thus it is but 

 natural that the two species should not be on very good 

 terms with one another. The crow is afraid of the kite. 

 No crow will admit this, but it is nevertheless true. 

 Often and often have I seen a party of crows squabbling 

 over a piece of food ; suddenly the fighting ceases, the 

 crows look scared, and a kite swoops down and carries 

 off, in its talons, the bone of contention, and thus acts 

 the part of the peacemaker. Fortunately for the crows, 

 the kite is itself not over- valorous, nor are its intellectual 

 powers great. 



The poet Spenser was not far from the mark when 

 he spoke of "the foolish kite." In spite of its superior 

 size, strength, and powers of flight, the kite is not infre- 

 quently "scored off" by the crow. 



