Wayne: Birds of South Carolina. 69 



It is a peculiar habit of this bird, which I have found to be al- 

 most constant, to have pearl, bone, and china buttons, as well as 

 pieces of glass and figured china, around and under the eggs. I 

 have never seen this peculiarity mentioned in any ornithological 

 work. The eggs are generally laid during the third week in 

 March, but on March 26, 1900, I found a nest which contained 

 two eggs that were on the point of hatching. The birds have 

 but one brood, and return to the same place year after year to 

 breed. The eggs are greenish white, spotted and blotched with 

 dark brown, and measure 3.00X2.00. 



FAMILY BUTEONIDiE: KITES, HAWKS, AND EAGLES. 



132. Elanoides forficatus (Linn.). Swallow-tailed Kite. 



The Swallow-tailed Kite is a very abundant summer resident 

 along the heavily-timbered river swamps, as well as in the forests 

 that border the reservoirs of rice plantations. This species is 

 by far the most beautiful of all the kites, and its powers of flight 

 are unsurpassed, even by the Mississippi Kite {Ictinia mississippi- 

 ensis), which freely associates with it. It feeds and drinks while 

 on the wing. I have seen these birds turn completely over and 

 over while flying, and it seemed to me that each individual was 

 trying its best to excel the other in graceful evolutions. 



This species is very gregarious. I have seen flocks of hundreds 

 of individuals on the Suwanee River in Florida. The birds feed 

 upon grasshoppers, beetles, lizards, and small snakes, which they 

 catch while on the wing with the greatest dexterity. 



On the lower Savannah River the birds arrive the last of March, 

 but in the region about Charleston they do not appear before the 

 first week in April.' If the season is open the birds are mated by 

 April 15, and they may be seen flying together, uttering their 

 plaintive notes, which can be heard at a long distance. I have 

 never found a nest of this beautiful bird in this state, although 

 it breeds abundantly. The eggs are, however, well known, and 

 number from two to four, being "white or buffy white, boldly 

 spotted or blotched, chiefly round the larger end, with hazel 

 brown, chestnut, or rich madder brown, 1.87X1.49" (Ridgway). 

 The nest of this kite is placed in the top of the tallest trees. 



Towards the last of August this species migrates southward, to 

 winter in Central and South America. 



' Since the above was written, I took a superb adult male of this species, March 19, 

 1910, at Mount Pleaaant. 



