on some Swiss Birds. 1 19 



The Golden Eagle cannot be common, at any rate in the 

 Canton of Berne, as my old chasseur has only shot three in 

 forty years ; he tells me that a dead marmot is the surest hait. 

 All the museums have a number of specimens of this bird, 

 and to this cause, as in the case of the Bearded Vulture, its 

 rarity may be attributed. 



MiLVUS MIGRANS. 



The Black Kite arrives towards the end of ]\Iarch or 

 begiDning of April, and departs in September. It is to be 

 seen near Geneva, fishing in the Rhone, and also on the 

 lake at Lausanne. AYhen bathing, a Black Kite has often 

 come within a few yards of me, every now and then carrying 

 off one of the small fish which swim in shoals near the 

 surface of the water, and which the natives call ' Sardines ' 

 {Alburiius lucidus). It breeds on Saleve near Geneva, 

 where I have seen several paii's in May ; also near Neuchatel, 

 and in the rocks near Villeneuve at the east end of the lake. 

 In September 1885 I received a live specimen of this bird, 

 taken from the nest on Saleve, which had already been two 

 years in captivity. My friend M. Hermann Goll kept it for 

 me in his aviary at Lausanne, and when I left in January 

 the bird had become very tame, knowing M. Goll and myself 

 ])erfectly, and showing great delight when we came near the 

 cage. It fed chiefly on raw meat varied with Sparrows, but 

 what it liked most was the head of a duck, off which it 

 would peck every morsel ; we gave it no fish at all, though in 

 a wikl state the Black Kite feeds principally on fish. 



On May 3rd, 1885, from the promenade which runs along 

 the edge of the lake of Neuchatel, I watched a pair of 

 Black Kites fishing ; they were wonderfully clever in eating 

 while on the wing; and I saw very clearly through my 

 glasses how they managed this. The Kite would swoop down 

 and carry off a fish in its claAvs from the surface of the water, 

 and then mount from 20 to 40 yards above the surface of the 

 lake, going straight up from where it had found the fish, 

 and thus not losing any hunting-ground ; it tlien lowered 



