32 THE BIRDS OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



I have numerous records of the former abundance 

 of the Kite in this division of our county, and espe- 

 cially in the great woods of Huntingdonshire — 

 Monk's Wood, Holme Wood, and Alconbury Hill. 

 One of my correspondents seems to think that the 

 drainage of the fens and of AVhittlesea Mere has 

 something to do with the disappearance of the Kite, 

 but I cannot agree in this view, as the bird was 

 already exceedingly rare at the time of the drainage 

 of the mere, nor are meres or swampy ground espe- 

 cially attractive to it. I have also heard it stated 

 that the Kites were exterminated by a very severe 

 winter, and this I think is more likely, for although 

 most of the records sent in to me are somewhat vague 

 as to date, from what I can gather our Kites seem 

 to have disappeared suddenly, and not gradually 

 diminished in numbers as though shot and trapped 

 off by gamekeepers. However this may be, it seems 

 that till about 1844 or 1845 the Kite was common, and 

 bred in many localities besides those above mentioned, 

 e. g.^ Thistlemore near Milton, Rockingham Forest, 

 Oundle Wood, the neighbourhood of Uppingham, 

 and probably many other large woods. The latest 

 record I have of the appearance of a Kite in these 

 parts is from Mr. G. Edmonds, of Oundle, who 

 informs me that in November 1868 one of these birds 

 suddenly rose from a ditch within a yard of him, 

 where it was regaling upon a dovecot Pigeon ; this 

 occurred in St. Osyth's Lane, within a very short 

 distance of Oundle. 



I presume that in England the Kite was a per- 

 manent resident, but I can find no positive informa- 

 tion upon this point ; at all events it nested regularly 

 with us, and I recollect its presence, as before stated, 



