10 THE BIRDS OF BRECONSHIRE. 
young ones covered with yellow down, 
the head of one being distinctly visible. 
This was in the second week of May. 
At the foot of the tree were some 
partridge-feathers, but none of those 
castings that are found when the young 
get older. The tenant told us that he 
had seen a quantity of castings with 
feathers and fur in previous years, and 
that in that year there were three Kites 
in the pairing time, but that one had 
left; this was most probably a young 
bird of the previous year that had been 
bred there. I hear that the Kite still 
frequents the same locality ; but the fact 
of the one bird staying with the old ones 
so) long will, I) think, be. \(sudiiciems: 
evidence of their general scarcity at that 
time. 
Up | fo: the year, 1889; the’ Kite had 
increased considerably and might have 
been often seen soaring above the town. 
In that spring, however, many were 
killed, three or four close to the town. 
After that a determined effort was made 
by several landowners in the county to 
preserve the few pairs that were left, and 
the Zoological Society of London passed 
