24 RAPTORIAL BIRDS 
requirements, as it usually preys upon small fresh- 
water fish, and aquatic reptiles, which are often very 
slippery and difficult to retain when captured. 
The succeeding genus, /Vauclerus, consists of two 
species, in both of which the long and elegant forked- 
tail is a conspicuous feature. The larger species is 
a native of the warmer countries of America; the 
smaller, of tropical Africa. The habits of the Ameri- 
can species, as observed in Texas, have been so well 
described in the “Ibis,” by Mr. Dresser, that we 
insert the following extract’from his notes. 
‘¢ This bird presents a singularly pleasing appearance on the 
wing, gliding in large circles without apparent effort ; still the 
flight is very rapid, the tail is generally very widely spread, and 
when sailing in circles, the wings are kept almost motionless. 
I watched one very closely as it was hunting after grasshoppers 
on a piece of prairie. It went over the ground as carefully as a 
well-trained pointer, every now and then stooping to pick up a 
grasshopper, and to me the feet and bill appeared to touch the 
insect simultaneously. They seem very fond of wasp-grubs, 
and will carry a nest up to some high perch, and sit there hold- 
ing it in one claw, and picking out the grubs. I saw one drop a 
nest and catch it before it reached the ground. I examined the 
stomachs of ten or twelve, and found them to contain sometimes 
beetles, and sometimes grasshoppers.” 
The remaining genera of Kites consist of birds 
which, like those of the genus /Vauclerus, feed princi- 
pally on insects. Of these three genera, two (Gam- 
psonyx and Jctinia) are limited to the American 
Continent; but the third (/anus) is not only repre- 
