

KITE. 75 



Hill are even now the breeding-places of the Kite. Mr. 

 Waterton has noticed this bird and its habits in York- 

 shire ; and Mr. Selby states that though rare in Northum- 

 berland and Durham, it is more frequent in Westmoreland 

 and Cumberland. Dr. Heysham, in reference to the last- 

 named county, says that the Kite breeds in the woods near 

 Armathwaite, and also in those near Tills water. 



The Kite is not uncommon in Denmark, Sweden, and 

 Norway, from spring till autumn ; but during the winter 

 very few remain there. It inhabits Eussia, Siberia, and 

 the country about Lake Baikal. In the southern part 

 of Europe, though rare in Holland, it inhabits the forests 

 of Germany, France, and Italy. It has been observed 

 at Corfu, Sicily, Crete, Malta, Algeria, and Egypt. 



The specimen from which the figure and the following 

 description were taken measured twenty-six inches in 

 length. The beak is horn colour, cere and irides yellow ; 

 the feathers of the head and neck greyish white, streaked 

 along the shaft with ash brown ; the feathers of the back 

 and wing-coverts dark brown in the centre, broadly edged 

 with rufous ; the inner web of some of the tertials edged 

 with white : the primaries nearly black : upper tail-coverts 

 rufous ; tail-feathers reddish brown, the outer webs of one 

 uniform colour, the inner webs barred with dark brown ; 

 the outer tail-feather on each side the darkest in colour ; 

 the tail deeply forked : the chin and throat, like the top 

 of the head, greyish white, streaked with dusky; the 

 breast, belly, and thighs, rufous brown, each feather with 

 a central longitudinal streak of dark brown : the under 

 surface of the wings, near the body, rufous, with dark 

 brown feathers edged with red brown towards the outer 

 part of the wing ; under tail-coverts plain rufous white ; 

 under surface of the tail-feathers greyish white, with the 



