THE SWALLOW-TAILED ELANUS. 147 



It were better for working men to question such sinecures and 

 equally monstrous mining " Koyalties," than blindly cutting down 

 the hours of national competitive labour and making destructive 

 war against capital. Like " strike-fed " demagogues, the kite is a 

 multifarious feeder, and a great depredator of chickens, ducklings, 

 and goslings in the districts where it abounds. Montagu tells 

 that one was so intent on getting chickens from a coop that a 

 servant girl knocked it down with a broom ; and when a woman 

 was washing entrails in a burn one swooped down and bore off a 

 large portion, trailing yards in the water, in spite of her efforts 

 to frighten it away — an apt illustration of the proverb — " It's no 

 for nocht the glead whustles." It is now confined to the wilder 

 districts and largest woods, building its nest in the fork of a 

 large tree ; it is composed of sticks, lined with grass, wool, and 

 other soft materials. It is, like the rest, an early breeder, and lays 

 three or four eggs, greyish white, speckled with light brown at 

 the larger end — sometimes plain, not unlike the common 

 buzzard's, and sometimes beautifully covered with light rufus 

 blotches ; others with lilac and purple — they are 2 J by 1} inches. 

 The general colour of both male and female is reddish orange, 

 streaked with brownish black — hence " red-kite;" head and neck, 

 greyish white ; breast, belly, and long feathers of the thighs, 

 reddish orange, also streaked with black. Tips of wings when 

 closed reach to the fork of the tail ; bill, light brown at base ; 

 tip, black ; cere and iris, yellow ; tarsi and feet, rich orange 

 yellow ; claws, black. The male is 25 inches to end of tail ; 

 extent of wings, 61 inches ; tail, 13 J inches. The female, 27 and 

 63 inches; and tail, 14 inches. The young birds, as usual, are 

 darker coloured ; the adult grows lighter with age. 



The Swallow-Tailed Elanus or Swallow Kite. 



(Falco Furcatus.) Linn. (Elanns Furcatus.) Savigny. 



Ornithologists introduce another genus, Elanus, as an 

 occasional visitor; but, with two exceptions, one killed in 

 Argyleshire and one caught in Yorkshire, there seems to be no 

 authentic instance of their very rare visits — a slender title for a 

 British bird. It is called the swallow-tailed kite or hawk, white- 

 headed swallow kite, &c. It is less than the red-kite, and 

 generally agrees with the generic characters of the sub-family. 



