THE commo:n" kite. 



MILVUS REGALIS. 



Upper parts reddish brown ; the feathers witli pale edges ; those of the head and 

 neck long and tapering to a point, grejish white, streaked longitudmally with 

 brown; lower parts rust coloured, with longitudinal bx'own streaks ; tail reddish 

 orange, barred indistinctly with bro^AOi ; beak horn coloured : cere, irides, and 

 feet yellow ; claws black. Female — upper plumage of a deeper bro^mi ; the 

 feathers pale at the extremity ; head and neck white. Length, twenty-five 

 inches ; breadth five feet six inches. Eggs dirty white, spotted at the larger 

 end with red-brown. 



" The Kite," PKny informs us, " seems, by the movement 

 of its tail, to have taught mankind the art of steering, — 

 nature pointing out in the air what is necessary in tlie 

 sea." The movement of the bird through the air indeed 

 resembles sailing more than flying. " One cannot," says 

 Buff'on, "but admire the manner in Avhich the flight of 

 the Kite is performed ; his long and narrow wings seem 

 motionless ; it is his tail that seems to direct all his 



