KITE . 391 



from Caithness, one from Lincolnshire, and one from an unknown 

 British locality. 



Kites, which range over the greater part of the Old World, 

 inclusive of Australia, are medium -sized birds of prey, easily recog- 

 nised by the long and deeply forked tail ; another distinctive character 

 being the presence of a flap of membrane over each nostril, by means 

 of which the aperture is reduced to a narrow slit. 



The true or red kite, also known, from its gliding flight, as the 

 glead, is the typical representative of the genus Milvus ; it will be 

 found described in some ornithological works under the title of Milvus 

 ktimis, and in others as JSIilvus viilviis. In the adult male the head 

 is white with dark brown streaks ; the feathers of the back are dark 

 brown with paler margins, those of the wing-coverts rusty red with 

 dark brown centres, but towards the hind margins of the wings the 

 coverts become tinged at the tips with dirty white, while those over- 

 lying the quills are dark brown with lighter edges ; the breast is rusty, 

 streaked with dark brown. The female, which is slightly larger than 

 the male, measuring about a couple of feet in length, is distinguishable 

 by the somewhat duller colouring and the rather less deep forking of 

 the tail. Young birds are paler and more mottled than their parents. 



In its palmy days the kite was a permanent resident in the south 

 of England, as it still is in Spain ; but from its more northern 

 breeding-haunts, which extend in Scandinavia to about latitude 61", 

 it migrates southwards in winter to visit northern Africa and the 

 C'anaries, where, however, it also breeds, as it does in the Cape Verde 

 Islands and Palestine. Eastwards its range is very limited ; not 

 extending in Russia apparently farther than the valley of the Dnieper, 

 or thereabouts. 



In the old days the kite was a favourite quarry in hawking ; and 

 its gliding flight and forked tail render it at all times unmistakable 

 when in the air. Kites differ markedly from hawks and falcons by 

 feeding largely on garbage, and in all cases by taking such living prey 

 as they may consume on the ground. In cities where they abound 

 they may almost be regarded as half-domesticated birds, and their 

 boldness is surprising, this being especially the case with the allied 

 Indian species. A "mewing" cry, uttered chiefly in the breeding- 

 season by the British species, is characteristic of the group. Usually 

 placed in a tree, but sometimes on a rock, a kite's nest is notable on 

 account of the scraps of cloth and other " odds and ends " with which 

 it is decorated. The eggs, which are usuall)^ two or three in number, 

 and measure about 2j inches in length, vary from pale greenish white 



