The Black Kite 17 
the first week in March and it is at its height during the la 
week. Some few remain to breed at various places in the vicinity 
but the bulk of them pass further north and nest in colonies. [i 
May 1879 I visited one of these in the Coto de Donana with 
Crown Prince Rudolf, and I climbed up and took several nests. 
On one occasion I saw no less than twenty-two of these birds 
NEST OF BLACK KITE IN CORK TREI 
congregated on one of the sun-baked mud flats amid the sand 
hills and pine woods of the marisma. It was near the end ol 
May and the ground was like iron and the herbage burnt up by 
the fierce rays of the sun. Yet these birds seemed to be feeding 
upon something, possibly small grasshoppers of sorts. When dis 
turbed they gave a sharp tremulous cry as they took wing 
Both Black and Red Kites often nest in comparatively smal 
