HEN-HARRIERS 137 



primaries are slightly separated and upcurved at their 

 extremities, beating rapidly. At intervals she rises 

 and falls in her flight, and beneath you her white 

 rump (from which she derives her Welsh name, 

 bod tinwyn White-tailed Kite) is peculiarly notice- 

 able. If you must liken her to any other species, 

 then the general effect is that of a Buzzard which 

 has adopted a slim figure and long wings, though, 

 of course, the Buzzard never has a white rump. 



Now she is easily seen ; but wait till she is flying 

 low over the vale beneath; then she is not so easy 

 to follow, unless of course the white patch above 

 the tail catches the eye ; for, large though she is, 

 her brown form harmonizes wonderfully with 

 surrounding objects. Her flight is then a mixture 

 of swiftness, leisure, and instability. On the whole 

 it is fairly rapid; yet periodically she slackens, only 

 to shoot ahead with a wavering if rapidly erratic 

 rush, and she turns from side to side alternately. 

 The whole flight, however, is buoyant and devoid 

 of all apparent effort. Certainly she is a faster flier 

 than the male, and hunts, too, in a different 

 fashion to him more straightforwardly, with 

 quite rapid, if erratic and skimming, flight low 

 over the ground. Nor do I think that she hunts 

 so long or so assiduously as he. Naturally the 

 male is ever more noticeable, and for all his 

 striking attire is less wary than the female. He 

 at once attracts attention and compels admiration 

 by the gull-like perquisites of his apparel here 



