THE RED KITE 203 



keeps just above that sky-line visible to an observer 

 in the vale beneath. It flaps along in leisurely 

 fashion, now with an occasional glide, now with a 

 momentary hover over thicker covert, ever alert 

 for the smallest living object. Now a small rabbit 

 squatting on a grassy ledge of the broken-up cliff 

 catches its crafty eye ; again, a quick swoop carries 

 it suddenly into the midst of a brood of duck- 

 lings in the farmyard below ; anon the Grouse 

 ' cheeper " or young Plover on the open moor 

 yields its life to the bird's ready talons. In short, 

 scarcely anything in the flesh line comes amiss, 

 only it must, of course, be able to steal upon it 

 unawares and feel capable of mastering it. Tiny 

 leverets, many young rabbits, moles (which it pro- 

 cures largely from the rough meadows encroaching 

 on the sequestered villages), rats, mice, " cheepers ' 

 of game-birds, and even the old birds themselves 

 (especially Grouse and Partridges), Plovers (Golden 

 and Green), goslings, chicks, ducklings, carrion, 

 and even frogs, fish, snakes, and beetles, all help 

 to swell its me'nu. The quarry is always made on 

 the ground ; indeed, with its weak talons, the Kite 

 is incapable of cutting down a bird on the wing : 

 and the meal is devoured, either on the spot, or, 

 if not too heavy, is borne first to the broad limb 

 of some adjacent tree, though in the spring it is 

 frequently brought to the nest, even before the eggs 

 are laid. 



Pliny tells us that the Kite taught man the 



