200 FIELD-STUDIES OF RARER BIRDS 



remnant. Still with no avail. To this day it is 

 supposed by many that the only nests in Wales 

 are those watched by the protectionists, but the 

 many are not quite correct, for I know of several 

 pairs which are not watched at all, and it would 

 be on the safe side to number the present breeding 

 stock at ten or a dozen pairs. 



Why did the Kite become so rare, even in 

 Wales, where the Buzzard an equally large and 

 conspicuous bird still more than keeps up its 

 numbers? One reason, no doubt, is that the latter 

 prefers a more romantic and lonely spot in which 

 to nest, while the Kite, though now driven to 

 frequent equally wild and desolate places, is in 

 reality a bird of cultivated rather than of savage 

 country, and nearly always, to this day, builds its 

 bulky nest in some wood close to a farm or 

 cottage, presumably that it may keep in touch 

 with the chickens and ducklings (which the Buz- 

 zard seldom touches), or else, which is more likely, 

 because, being a branch-builder, . it necessarily 

 chooses a locality where trees exist. Whatever 

 the cause, the Kite laid itself open to persecution ; 

 and of this it received full measure. 



Another good reason for its scarcity is that 

 as its numbers diminished, so was a price put on 

 its head. I much doubt, however, if it was ever 

 as plentiful in Wales as the Buzzard. 



Fairly recently a good naturalist asked me why 

 the Kite still lingered in Wales, and not 



