KITES 19 



early in the former month. The action seems for 

 a time to be simply reflex, but presently comes to 

 bear a definite and direct relation to the foundation 

 or repair of nests ; by the middle of September, 

 steady building is going on everywhere, and in the 

 following month laying and sitting are in full swing. 

 Accidents, however, overtake many nests, owing to 

 occasional violent storms of wind, and all through 

 the course of winter processes of repair are in 

 progress. This is specially the case towards the end 

 of January and the beginning of February, when the 

 autumnal broods have been disposed of and prepara- 

 tions are being made for those due in spring. Eggs 

 may be obtained during a long series of months, but 

 are most abundant in October, and again towards 

 the end of winter ; they are beautifully marked with 

 bold reddish-brown splashes on a white ground. 

 The curious feeble whistling and mewing of the 

 young birds are constantly to be heard from early 

 in the cold weather until well on in the following 

 May, and, so long as they have to be provided for, 

 the parents have hard work to satisfy their own 

 healthy appetites and the demands of their children. 

 The young ones for some time after they leave the 

 nest are of a much warmer brown tint than their 

 parents, and their plumage, mottled and shaded in 

 a very decorative way, shows little traces of its later 

 uniformity of colour. 



I have never seen a kite take any of the common 



