FALCON I DAE 



169 



known to breed in certain parts of Northern and Western 

 Britain, though no longer the ubiquitous scavenger of the 

 streets, so common even in London three or four centuries ago. 

 Bold tl lefts of poultry from farmyards and linen from drying- 

 grounds then counterbalanced its utilitv, but none the less may 

 we regret the almost total extermination of this fine tenant of the 

 air, caused hj tlie increase of fire-arms and tlie discovery that 



i'lG. 41. — FiL'il Kite. MiLvus ictinus. x g. (From Bird Life in ISweden.) 



its tail-feathers make the choicest salmon-flies. Not unlike a 

 Buzzard when aloft, the shrill whistling note, when heard, con- 

 stitutes a clear mark of distinction ; while the broad wings and 

 long deeply-forked tail bestow siich graceful ease of motion and 

 perfect steerage power as few birds can claim, whether for soar- 

 ing and circling aloft, quartering the ground for booty, or hover- 

 ing over the water to fish. It is not always, however, that the 

 forked character of the tail is apparent, for when fully open it 

 looks S(|uare, just as a square tail seems rounded. Tbis species 



