FALCONID.E—KITE. 



169 



March, 1878, one chased a sparrow into a stable at Priors, Broomfield, when the 



door being shut it was quickly killed, and on August 23rd following, a j'oung 



one killed itself by flying against a window, at 



Melbourne, about a mile distant from Priors. 



In Orsett district, Mr. Sackett says it breeds 



commonly, especially in the Old Ford Woods 



and Mucking Heronry. One nest he discovered 



in June, 1885, was in the fork of a tree, only 



about six feet from the ground, so that he was 



able to reach it without climbing ; and a clutch 



he took on the 17th of the same month was 



deposited in a portion of the nest of a Carrion 



Crow that had been pulled from its original 



position, but had lodged on some branches. 



Kite : Milvus idinus. Locally, 



"Crotchet-tailed (or Crutch-tailed) Put- 



tock." 



Now practically extinct, though form- 

 erly abundant. It has been known to 



breed once or twice in Britain during 



the last few years, but will probably not 



do so for long. In Essex, no specimen 



has been recorded for many years, and records show that it 



had become scarce by the end of 

 the first quarter of the present 

 century, though a nest, men- 

 tioned below, is said to have 

 been built at Mersea as late as 

 1845. 



Mr. Clarke notes (24) the occur- 

 rence of one, obtained by Mr. Stephen 

 Salmon, at Newport, in 1829 ; of a 

 male (now in Walden Museum) ob- 

 tained at Ashdon about 1830 ; and of 

 another at Debden on June 22nd, 1837' 

 Probably the last-named is the male 

 from Debden, now in Walden Museum, 

 presented by the Hon. Lindsay Buirell. 

 The date of its death indicates that it 

 must have been breeding. l\lr. Clarke 

 writes me : " The-last I saw was about 

 ten or twelve years ago. It sailed over 

 so low that it was within gunshot." 

 "J. C," of Witham, writing in March, 

 1S34, says (12. vii. 511) : 

 " We have a few about us. It is provincially called the ' Crotchet-tailed Put- 



tock,' One flew over the garden a few days ago, mobbed by several Rooks. 



KITE, Yi,. 



