IV FALCONIDAE 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. 
sold thefts of poultry from farmyards and lnen from drying- 
grounds then counterbalanced its utility, but none the less may 
we regret the almost total extermination of this fine tenant of the 
air, caused by the increase of fire-arms and the discovery that 
(i 
Sai) 
Fic. 41.—Red Kite. Milvus ictinus. x3. (From Bird Life in Sweden.) 
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 such 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 square, just as a square tail seems rounded. This species 
