THE EAGLE-LIKE SUBFAMILY 1961 



streaked with brown, and most of the feathers with light borders, the iris being 

 yellow. In America this species is replaced by the white-tailed kite (E. leucurus), 

 easily distinguished by the feathers of the tail (except the middle pair, which are 

 gray) being pure white; while two other species inhabit Australia, and a fifth 

 the Philippines, Java, Borneo, and Celebes. 



Mr. Hume writes that the black-winged kites hover over grass in the fashion of 

 a kestrel, t4 but in a clumsier and heavier manner. The wings point upward, so 

 that they are within three or four inches of each other, instead of being retained 

 nearly horizontally as in the kestrel, and the legs and tail hang down unlike those 

 of any other bird that I have noticed. Thus hovering, they after a time slowly de- 

 scend, and when within a few feet of the ground generally drop suddenly. They 

 are very tame, bold birds, passing unconcernedly within a few feet of a sportsman 

 when busy hunting, over fields or grass, and sitting composedly on the bare end of 

 a bough, while gun in hand one walks up to within a few paces of their perch." 

 They are frequently to be seen sitting on the telegraph wires alongside the Indian 

 railways, while in Egypt they may be observed (as shown in our illustration), 

 perched on the summits of the long poles used for raising water from the Nile. The 

 nests are usually placed in low trees; and the eggs have a creamy or bluish- white 

 ground, sparingly streaked and blotched with pale yellowish brown, and are usually 

 two or three in number. One of the Australian species usually nests in large com- 

 panies; the nests being placed as near together as possible, and composed of twigs > 

 lined with the cast pellets of the fur of the rodents on which the birds have fed. 

 The black-winged species subsists chiefly on insects, but also devours rats and mice. 

 The American white-tailed kite does not apparently breed northward of South Cali- 

 fornia, but extends south to Argentina. Its habits seem to be very similar to 

 those of the other species, but whereas in North America it usually lays four or five 

 eggs, in Argentina the number reaches eight. Messrs. Sclater and Hudson write 

 that " it is a handsome bird, with large ruby-red irides, and when seen at a distance 

 its snow-white plumage and buoyant flight give it a striking resemblance to a gull. 

 Its wing power is indeed marvelous. It delights to soar, like the martins, during 

 a high wind, and will spend hours in this sport, rising and falling alternately; and 

 at times, seeming to abandon itself to the fury of the gale, is blown away like 

 thistle down, until, suddenly recovering itself, it shoots back to its original position. 

 Where there are tall poplar trees, these birds amuse themselves by perching on the 

 topmost slender twigs, balancing themselves with outspread wings, each bird on a 

 separate tree, until the tree tops are swept by the wind from under them, when 

 they often remain poised almost motionless in the air until the twigs return to their 

 feet." 



Although the term kite is now commonly applied to many members 

 of the present family, it should properly be restricted to the .species of 

 the genus Milvus, and belongs, strictly speaking, only to the common or red kite 

 (M. idinus}, also known in England as the glead. In Britain the kite is one of 

 those species which has suffered most severely from incessant persecution, having 

 gradually diminished in numbers from the time of Shakespeare, when these birds 

 were to be seen in numbers on the Thames in London, till the present day, when it 



