KITE. 129 



of it in the seventeenth century very famiharly. He 

 says that if you "take a Kite and a Carrion-Crow, and 

 tie them down in the stubble with sufhcient Hberty, 

 they will fight and cry in a strange manner : upon 

 which there will come immediately great flocks of Crows 

 from all parts, which striking freely at the Kite will 

 many of them be taken in the lime twig which must be 

 placed round in the stubble for that reason. Eemember 

 that you tie up the foot of your Kite to make the battle 

 more equal. You may easily take a Kite with a Pigeon 

 and lime." Probably the last instance of its breeding 

 in Lancashire is that recorded by Mr. W. Pearson 

 {Papers, iOc, 1863) who, writing in 1839, says that he 

 '• well remembers the Kite in his youth, his forked tail 

 and his long crooked wings," but that " it has not been 

 seen in Crosthwaite for thirty years : " he continues, 

 "my neighbour, Isaac Walker, informs me that when 

 he was a j^outh, fift}' years ago, and lived in Sawrey, a 

 pair or two of gledes built their nests among a number 

 of tall trees, on the west side of Windermere lake, near 

 the Ferry Inn. These birds were most of them de- 

 stroyed by some idle fellows in the neighbourhood, who 

 shot them on the roost during moonlight. He once 

 took away a 3'Oung one from a nest containing two : it 

 became very tame, and would sit upon his hand ; and 

 although it had long and sharp talons, it took care 

 never to hurt him with them. He permitted it to be at 

 liberty, and it would sometimes stay away for a day or 

 two, but always returned. At length, however, it 

 entered the cottage of an old woman without leave, and 

 the ill-natured crone killed it." Mr. W. A. Durnford's 

 correspondent, W. B. K. ("Birds of Walney," 1883), says 

 that the " Glead " used to breed in Low Furness ; and 

 according to the Piev. J. D. Banister and Mr. John 



