214 COMMON KITE. 



favourite quarry for the falconer ; Hawk and Kite 

 circling up until they disappeared sometimes entirely 

 from view. 



When the breeding season commences the Kite has 

 been frequently known to rob the clothes-line for 

 material for his nest. Mr. Cordeaux writes to the 

 Zoologist, 1891, p. 313, the following reminiscences of 

 an old man, seventy-seven years of age, who began life 

 as assistant to a gamekeeper in Lincolnshire. " He well 



COMMON KITE. 



remembers when he was a boy that the Gleade was 

 very common in the big woods near Louth ; he had 

 seen scores of them ; during a great part of the day 

 they were on the wing, flying and soaring in circles at 

 a great elevation on motionless wings. His father 

 kept a good many geese, and almost the first job he 

 was put to as a child was to tend goslings. If the 

 least remiss in his duty, down swooped one of the ever- 

 watchful Kites, and in an instant one of his charges 

 was carried off. Not only were they skilful foragers 



