168 The Kites and Hawks 
the connection between cause and effect. Besides the quick lateral 
alteration of the position of the tail, there is another movement 
whereby the height of the flight is regulated, and yet again another, 
the sudden expansion of the tail like an opened fan, whereby the 
speed is instantly checked. It is after watching the Kites thus 
gliding, seemingly without effort at all angles and in all directions, 
that one despairs of the audacity of man’s attempts to convert himself 
into a flying machine. 
It was one of the many red-letter days in my birdsnesting life 
when I first succeeded in marking some Red Kites to their nesting- 
place at the top of a tall pine. The tree was without branches for 
over 35 ft. with the exception of a small rotten-looking stump 
about 20 ft. from the ground. At the time I was innocent of 
ropes or other appliances for tree-climbing. So I set to work to 
swarm up the big slippery trunk and after a severe struggle reached 
the small stump where I rested to recover my wind and _ then 
resumed the ascent. I shall never forget my joy at seeing the two 
beautiful eggs lying on the dirty platform of old rags and goat’s 
hair with which the nest was lined. Sending down my _ prize 
in a box ona line, | hauled up my trap, an iron one with blunted 
teeth and padded jaws, a present from Lord Lilford, and set it in 
the nest. After covering it with some of the lining, and placing 
a hen’s ege beyond it, | descended and concealed myself in the 
cistus scrub some 200 yards distant. Very shortly the Kite 
returned and, entering the nest, sprang the trap. Next moment she 
dashed off, but the line on the trap soon brought her up and she 
came to the ground. It was my first attempt at trapping a big 
raptorial bird and I was mightily pleased to find she was caught by 
one of her centre toes and absolutely unhurt. It is hard to imagine 
the beauty of a wild bird thus caught alive and unharmed. It sur- 
passes beyond belief the appearance of birds kept alive in confine- 
ment or mounted by the most skilful of taxidermists. 
