FAMILY FALCONIDJE ; KITES, BUZZARDS. 



411 



useful purpose in Turkey and Egypt. Numerous Kites, in a 

 sort of half-domesticated state, are seen hovering about, or 

 resting on the tops of the houses ; and at the signal of a whistle, 

 they descend and clear the ground of any carrion which may 

 have been cast upon it. The nest of the Kite is usually in the 

 fork of a thick tree, where it is concealed by the branches ; and 

 it is more elaborate in its construction, than those of the Birds of 

 Prey usually are. The external part is formed of twigs thickly 

 matted together ; and the interior is lined with wool, or some 

 other soft and warm substance. The eggs are generally three 

 in number. The young remain a long time in the nest, and are 

 extremely voracious in their appetite, so that to provide for 

 them requires considerable labour. At this period the audacity 

 of the Kite is greater than at any other. Several different 

 species of Kites are known, inhabiting various parts of the 

 world. 



374. If the Hawks may be regarded as an inferior kind of 



Falcon, the Buzzards 

 may be considered as hav- 

 ing the same relation to 

 the Eagles. Their bodies 

 are robust, their wings 

 ample and rounded, and 

 their tarsi more or less 

 feathered, often to the 

 toes ; but they are much 

 inferior in the strength 

 of the bill and talons ; 

 though the former, as in 

 the Falcons, is curved 

 from its base. Their flight 

 is easy and undulating ; 

 they have neither the soar 

 and swoop of the Falcons, 

 the arrow-like dash of the 

 Hawks, nor the circling sweep of the Kites ; but they sail easily 

 and rapidly along, and hunt in quest of moles, rats, mice, young 



FIG. 215. COMMON BUZZARD. 



