IV 



FALCONIDAE 



169 



known to breed in certain parts of Northern and Western 

 Britain, though no longer the ubiquitous scavenger of the 

 streets, so common even in London three or four centuries ago. 

 Bold thefts of poultry from farmyards and linen from drying- 

 grounds then counterbalanced its utility, but none the less may 

 we regret the almost total extermination of this fine tenant of the 

 air, caused by the increase of fire-arms and the discovery that 



Fig. 41. Red Kite. Milvus ictinus. x |. (From Bird Life in Sweden.) 



its tail-feathers make the choicest salmon-flies. Not unlike a 

 Buzzard when aloft, the shrill whistling note, when heard, con- 

 stitutes a clear mark of distinction ; while the broad wings and 

 long deeply-forked tail bestow such graceful ease of motion and 

 perfect steerage power as few birds can claim, whether for soar- 

 ing and circling aloft, quartering the ground for booty, or hover- 

 ing over the water to fish. It is not always, however, that the 

 forked character of the tail is apparent, for when fully open it 

 looks square, just as a square tail seems rounded. This species 



