THE COMMON KITE. 



MILVUS REGALIS. 



Upper parts reddish brown ; the feathers with pale edges ; those of the head and 

 neck long and tapering to a point, greyish white, streaked longitudinally with 

 brown; lower parts rust coloured, with longitudinal brown streaks ; tail reddish 

 orange, barred indistinctly with brown ; beak horn coloured ; cere, irides, and 

 feet yellow ; claws black. Female upper plumage of a deeper brown ; the 

 feathers pale at the extremity ; head and neck white. Length, twenty-five 

 inches ; breadth five feet six inches. Eggs dirty white, spotted at the larger 

 end with red-brown. 



" THE Kite," Pliny informs us, " seems, by the movement 

 of its tail, to have taught mankind the art of steering, 

 nature pointing out in the air what is necessary in the 

 sea." The movement of the bird through the air indeed 

 resembles sailing more than flying. " One cannot," says 

 Buffon, "tut admire the manner in which the flight of 

 the Kite is performed ; his long and narrow wings seem 

 motionless; it is his tail that seems to direct all his 



