Birds of Prey. 



121 





Ifi 



'€M!li 



THE 



BLACK KITE. 



{Milviis migrans.) 



sticks, but is also remarkable for the assemblage of 

 rubbish which the bird manages to collect. The 

 eggs are two or three in number, greenish white, 

 often unspotted, but on occasions blotched with 

 reddish-brown. 



This is a much darker bird 

 than M. inilvus, and is to be told 

 by its dark brown tail, which is 

 barred across with blackish brown. 

 A smgle specimen has been obtained at Alnwick, 

 in Northumberland, in Ma}-, 1866. It is found 

 locally throughout the greater part of Europe, 

 being more abundant in the south, and it extends 

 eastwards into Central Asia ; its winter home is in 

 Africa. In habits it resembles other Kites, but is 

 more gregarious than the preceding species, and 

 frequents the neighbourhood of towns and villages 

 in many parts of its range, where it feeds on all 

 kinds of garbage. The nest is built of sticks and is profusely garnished with 

 every sort of rubbish. The eggs vary in number from two to five ; they are dull 

 white, with red blotches, and are more strongly marked than the eggs of the 

 Common Kite. 



This is a tropical species found m Africa and India, and is a 

 rare bird in Southern Europe. It is said to have occurred on one 

 occasion in 



The Black Kite. 



THE BLACK- 

 SHOULDERED 

 KITE. 



(Elaitus cicriilens.) 



Co. Meath, 

 in Ireland. 

 It is easily recognisable by its 

 blue-grey colour, white tail 

 and undcrparts, and black 

 wing-coverts, which form the 

 shoulder patch from which 

 the bird derives its name. 

 The iris is of a bright 

 carmine colour. 



The food of this species 

 consists of small mammals 

 and insects, and it has a 

 hal)it of hovering in the air 

 like a Kestrel. The nest is 

 made of sticks and is always 



J.s^3l 



The Hlack-shoui.dered Kite. 



