70 Contributions from the Charleston Museum. 



133. Elanus leucurus (Vieill.). White-tailed Kite. 

 In Audubon's Birds of America/ he says: 



I have traced the migration of this beautiful Hawk from the Texas as far east as 

 the mouth of the Santee River in South Carolina. On the 8th of February, 1834, 

 I received one of these birds alive from Dr. Ravenel, of Charleston, who had kept 

 it in his yard for eight days previously, without being able to induce it to take any 

 food. The beauty of its large eyes struck me at once, and I immediately made 

 a drawing of the bird, which was the first I had ever seen alive. It proved to be 

 a male, and was in beautiful plumage. On the 23rd of the same month I received 

 another fine specimen, a female, from Francis Lee, Esq., who had procured it on 

 his plantation, forty miles west of Charleston. * * * * 



Mr. H.Ward, who accompanied me on my expedition to the Floridas, found this 

 species breeding on the plantation of Alexander Mayzck, [Mazyck] Esq., on the Santee 

 River, early in the month of March, and shot three, two of which, a male and a 

 female, are now in my possession. Their nests were placed on low trees near the 

 margins of the river, and resembled those of the American Crow, but had none 

 of the substantial lining of that bird's nest. Mr. Ward states that at this time 

 they were seen flying over the cane brakes in pursuit of large insects, somewhat 

 in the manner of the Mississippi Kite, and that they were very shy. 



My friend John Bachman has seen this species flying in groups, at a very great 

 height, in the beginning of March, and thinks that it is only of late years that they 

 have located themselves in South Carolina, where, however, five of them have 

 been procured in one year. 



If the birds recorded by Audubon were really White-tailed 

 Kites, it is the first and only instance of their occurrence in the 

 State. Although I have diligently searched for this species along 

 practically the entire coast region during the past twenty-three 

 years, I have failed to find any trace of it. As this kite bears 

 a strong resemblance to the adult male Marsh Hawk {Circus 

 hudsonius), Audubon may have made an error in his identifica- 

 tion, for the White-tailed Kite is a rare bird anywhere east of the 

 Mississippi. 



The nests, which Mr. Ward found on the Santee River ''early 

 in the month of March," could not have belonged to this species, 

 as the White-tailed Kite breeds in April and May in Texas and 

 central Cahfornia; and, since Mr. Ward does not refer to the nests 

 as containing eggs, which would almost certainly have been de- 

 scribed by Audubon if they really had been in the nests, this 

 breeding record cannot be accepted with certainty. 



134. Ictinia mississippiensis (Wils.). Mississippi Kite. 



This fine species is a summer resident and arrives in the spring 

 with great regularity. I mention three dates upon which the 

 first birds were observed, namely — April 22, 1895; April 23, 1897; 

 and April 26, 1901. 



• I, 70-71. 



