FOR CAGES AND AVIARIES. 109 



The eggs, which are four or five in number, vary a 

 good deal; one before the author as he writes, is very 

 like that of the Merlin, but is slightly larger and has larger 

 spots not so closely placed together as in the case of the 

 latter. 



The Kestrel feeds principally on large insects, but it 

 will also catch and kill small birds and mice. 



If not well supplied with food these birds will soon 

 attack each other in confinement, and the vanquished will 

 be incontinently devoured by the victor. 



Like all the Hawks and other birds of prey, even the 

 Nightingale, the Kestrel ejects the indigestible portions of 

 its food in little masses of an oblong form technically 

 known as " pellets." 



The Kite. 



This bird is the head of the Milvine Family and the 

 last of the Hawks, properly so called. Its name is syno- 

 nymous with that of thief, robber, bandit and coward, 

 though why it should have been so degraded is not very 

 clear, for in disposition and prowess it does not differ 

 in any material respect from its congeners. 



It is a powerful bird on the wing, measuring 5 feet 

 from tip to tip of the outstretched pinions, and yet it 

 only weighs a little over a couple of pounds; the female, 

 however, is larger. 



The Kite may be distinguished from the other Hawks by 

 its forked tail. In colour it is reddish-brown, darker on 

 the upper than the under surface, and the top of the head 

 has a bluish tinge. It builds its nest in trees, and lays 

 three or four round eggs of a bluish-white ground colour, 

 spotted somewhat sparsely with yellowish-brown, and in 

 some cases not at all. 



The food is much the same as that of the other Hawks, 

 but it also hunts for and eats earthworms, and will not 

 disdain to make a meal of any dead carcase it may come 

 across, for which reason in the old hawking times it was 

 considered "ignoble," and on the principle "give a dog 

 a bad name and hang him," it came to be connected with 

 everything that was reprehensible and vile. 



