THE KITE. $91 
game, under the very nose of sportsmen or gamekeepers. It will 
even attack and devour fowls and chickens in the poultry-yard, and 
so absorbed does it become in the enjoyment of its feast that a person 
may not unfrequently get sufficiently near to capture it. In the plains 
where game is abundant, Sparrow-hawks are very destructive, and, 
consequently, are seldom spared when within gunshot. 
In captivity it will become gentle and tame. Dr. Franklin men- 
tions an instance of one of these birds, belonging to a friend of his, 
which lived with two pigeons. ‘This bird had succeeded in gaining the 
affection of all who knew it, and was, it is said, as playful as a kitten. 
Africa possesses two species of Sparrow-hawk : the Dwarf Sparrow- 
hawk (A. minudlus), which does not exceed the Blackbird in size. 
As intrepid, although not so strong, as its European brother, it often 
ventures to attack Kites and Buzzards, and, by its agility, harasses 
them with impunity. The Chanting Falcon (Alelierax musicus), which 
is about the size of the Goshawk, sings in the vicinity of the female 
during the season ofincubation. It is the only musician among birds 
of the Rapacious order, and therefore has a claim to honourable 
mention. 
Both the Goshawks and the Sparrow-hawks were employed in 
hawking in days of old, but their relative value was much inferior to 
that of the Falcon. 
The birds which belong to the Kite genus (AZ7/vus) are charac: 
terised as follows :—Beak curved from the base, and not toothed; 
tarsi short, slender, and feathered on the upper part; wings very 
long; tail long, and more or less forked; colour generally brown. 
Several species are known, but their characteristics are identical. 
TheCommon Kite (AZi/vus regalis, Fig. 277), thus named on account 
of affording amusement for princes, who hunted it with the falcon, and 
even the sparrow-hawk, measures two feet in height, the spread of its 
wings being not less than five feet. Of all the Falcon tribe this bird 
is gifted with the most graceful, rapid, and sustained powers of flight. 
tis so incessantly on the wing, that it appears scarcely to require 
rest. Love for soaring through space must be the cause of this 
activity, as it never pursues its prey, but descends upon it with in- 
credible velocity from the prodigious heights at which it may be 
hovering, and, seizing it in its claws, bears it to some adjacent tree to 
be devoured. Its food consists of leverets, moles, rats, field-mice, 
reptiles, and fish—the latter it catches on the surface of the water. 
It builds its nest on lofty trees, rarely on rocks. It is a constant 
resident in some parts of France, and is met with in nearly all 
countries of Europe. 
