172 The Kites and Hawks 
trees. I have found several nests placed in cork trees 20 ft. to 30 ft. 
from the ground. They would seem whenever possible to prefer 
using the deserted nest of some other bird to going to the trouble 
of building one for themselves. Thus, those in the cork-oak trees 
NEST AND EGGS OF BLACK KITE. 
were invariably disused nests of the Snake Eagle which I had 
seen tenanted by those birds in former years. The nests in the 
Spanish oaks were similarly those of the Booted Eagle and most, 
but not all, of those in the pine trees were old Ravens’ nests. The 
nest shown on the preceding page is in a cork tree about 30 ft. from 
