294 



FOOD AND NEST OF THE KITE. 



The food of the Kite is rather general in its nature, consisting of va- 

 rious quadrupeds, young rabbits, hares, rats, mice, and moles, of which 

 latter animals no less than twenty-two were discovered in the nest of a 

 single Kite, showing how rapid and noiseless must be its movements 

 when it can secure so wary and keen-eared an animal as a mole. It 

 does not chase the swift-winged birds through the air, but pounces on 



many a partridge as it sits on the 

 ground, and is remarkably fond 

 of taking young and unfledged 

 birds from their nests ; reptiles 

 of different kinds, such as 

 snakes, frogs, lizards, and newts, 

 also form part of its food, and it 

 will not disdain to pick up a bee 

 or a grasshopper when it can find 

 no larger prey. The Kite is also 

 a good fisher, waging nearly as 

 successful war against the finny 

 inhabitants of the rivers or 

 ponds as the Osprey itself, 

 sweeping suddenly down upon 

 the fish as they rise to the sur- 

 face in search of food or in their 

 accustomed gambollings, and 

 bearing them away to the shore, 

 where it settles down and eats 

 them in peace. 



The nest of the Kite is built 

 chiefly with sticks as a founda- 

 tion, upon which is placed a 

 The Mississippi Kite. j^^.^^ of moss, wool, hair, and 



other soft and warm articles. The locality which is chosen for the nest 

 is generally in some thick wood, and the bird prefers a strong, forked 

 branch for the resting-place. The eggs are generally two in number, 

 and sometimes three, of a grayish or light-brownish white color, speckled 

 with reddish chestnut blotches, which, as is the case with so many hawks' 

 eggs, are gathered toward the larger end. 



The ordinary length of the common Kite is about twenty inches, 

 but the sexes are rather variable in that respect, the females being al- 

 ways larger than the males. The coloring of the bird is very elegant, 

 although composed of few tints, and is remarkable more on account of the 

 delicate gradations and contrasts of hue than for any peculiar brilliancy 

 of the feathers. The general aspect of the Kite is reddish brown, 

 which on a close inspection is resolved into the following tints : The 



