98 



THE OOLOGIST. 



cubatiog tht) eggs. Upon the approach 

 of a person to within several hundred 

 yards of the tree containing the nest the 

 male will leave his perch and utter a 

 sharp whistling note, at which the female 

 will sometimes leave the nestimmediate- 

 ly and after a detour be noticed at some 

 distance from the tree. But when in- 

 cubation has begun the female sits vei-y 

 close and will remain on the nest until 

 it is almost reached by the collector. 

 Frequently I have visited a nest when 

 the male lookout was not to be seen 

 and were the nest not known, the pres- 

 ence of the birds would not be suspect- 

 ed. I think that ordinarily the Kite 

 utters no note, but upon first alarm the 

 birds will begin their low musical 

 "whistle" which is continued while the 

 nest is being inspected. The Western 

 Meadowlark possesses a note very 

 similarto the whistle of the Kite. It is 

 uttered by the lark when it is about to 

 take wing and has deceived me more 

 than once for the call of the Kite. 



The nesting dates vary from the ear- 

 ly part of March through May, though 

 the eggs laid in the latter month ai'e 

 doubtless second sets or at best late 

 ones. The weather seems to have little 

 effect upon their nest-building for an 

 early set taken this year proves that the 

 nest must have been constructed early 

 in March at which time the weather 

 was more or less rainy. Mr. Carriger 

 has noted his earliest set as March 15, 

 1890 and the latest as May 17, 1891. 

 The foi-mer consisted of three slightly 

 incubated eggs and the latter of three 

 fi'esh eggs, which vserp probably a sec- 

 ond set. 



The Kite seems to prefer the live oak 

 as a nesting site and usually the nest is 

 in the highest possible part of the tree 

 and though it cannot be seen at a dis- 

 tance the bird while on her nest com- 

 mands a view of the entire vicinity. 

 On March 17th of this year I thought to 

 visit my haunts of '94. A high south 

 wind was blowing and a darkened sky 



made prospects anything but propi- 

 tious and as I entered the domains of 

 Elanns after a long ride 1 watched dili- 

 gently for the appearance of the birds 

 among the trees. But the Kites c^me 

 not and a search at random was neces- 

 sai'y. Finally an old nest was discover- 

 ed in a small oak about 15 feet up. As 

 I had taken a set of three eggs from 

 this pair of birds on April 19, 1894 I 

 have no doubt but that this was their 

 second nest. At the time of taking the 

 set I attempted to remove the nest but 

 owing to its loose construction I was 

 unsuccessful. A few stray sticks re- 

 mained to mark the site of the nest and 

 when T went under the tree this year I 

 was much surprised to discover a new 

 nest placed in the identical spot as the 

 one of '94. It was but the work of a 

 moment to make the climb and four 

 handsome eggs were found in the nest. 

 As they were warm I concluded that 

 incubation had begun and subsequently 

 found the eggs to contain A^ery slight 

 embryos. This nest was situated 25 

 feet up in a live oak in the extreme top. 

 It was about 13 inches in diameter with 

 a depression of about 3 inches in the 

 • center. It was as usual composed of 

 small oak twigs and lined with dry 

 stubble from a held near by. The sit- 

 uation of the nest was such as would 

 make an ideal summer homo for the 

 young Kites. There in the tree-top 

 gently rocked by the zephyrs the nest 

 commanded a view on all sides, with a 

 sea of vari-colored tree tops of the bud- 

 ding oaks. I descended with the eggs 

 in mj' hat and was some distance from 

 the locality when a Kite liew rapidly 

 by toward the nest. No doubt it was 

 the female who after her morning ex- 

 ercise was to resume incubation. She 

 hovered over the nest as if to alight, 

 but discovering the loss she alighted on 

 a white oak near by where she re- 

 mained as long as I watched her. This 

 set of eggs is one of the most evenly 

 marked of any I have taken this year. 



