^"I'Sq?^^] Barlow, Nesting- Habits of White-tailed Kite. I^ 



the nest on my approach. The eggs of this set average smaller 

 than those of the first laying of the same birds, and one specimen 

 is particularly bright in coloration. The parent bird attacked me 

 as in the first instance, but soon gave up the battle and alighted 

 near by. This set is now in the collection of Mr. C. W. Crandall. 



This spring I was interested to see if these birds would prove 

 as early breeders as in 1895, so on March 10, 1896, I visited their 

 domain and found that the last year's nest had been added to and 

 freshly lined, and four eggs deposited. The nest was twenty feet 

 from the ground. Incubation was fully one-third advanced, Avhich 

 corresponded approximately as to date with the laying of the 

 former season. The birds showed the same aggressive spirit, 

 which in itself seems a trait amply sufficient to distinguish this 

 particular pair. This set of eggs is also in Mr. Crandall's 

 collection. 



The Kites now repaired to their location of the previous year, 

 where they built a new nest in a scraggly live oak twenty-five feet 

 from the ground, and which contained four eggs on March 29. 

 The set was not collected. Nineteen days had been required to 

 build a new nest and deposit a set of four eggs, while in 1895 

 twenty-two days were occupied in performing the same duties. 

 This pair of birds have never used a nest the second time during 

 the same season. I fully expect to find them amid their familiar 

 surroundings next spring, and judging from the occurrence of white 

 eggs in their layings, I consider that they have occupied the 

 present locality for many years. 



On April 13, 1895, a third pair of Kites were found occupying 

 a grove of trees in a grainfield, where there was a plentiful food 

 supply. Their uneasy actions indicated a nest in the vicinity, 

 and careful search revealed an old one in the top of a tall oak. 

 It contained numerous driedup pellets, which are found in nests 

 in which a brood has been reared, and which are no doubt ejected 

 by the young after being fed. The new nest was found a short 

 distance away, thirty-five feet up in a live oak, and smaller than 

 the average in size. It was lined with dry stubble, a small quan- 

 tity of Spanish moss and a few feathers from the parent bird. 

 Four eggs constituted the set, three being one-half advanced in 

 incubation while the fourth was infertile. The eggs were quite 



