56 KITE. 



lowing curious account in his entertaining and profitable book. 

 He says, 'I can confusedly remember a very extraordinary 

 capture of these birds when I was a boy. Eoosting one winter 

 evening on some very lofty elms, a fog came on during the 

 night, which froze early in the morning, and fastened the 

 feet of the poor Kites so firmly to the boughs, that some 

 adventurous youths brought down, I think, fifteen of them 

 so secured! Singular as the capture was, the assemblage of 

 so large a number was not less so; it being in general a 

 solitary bird, or associating only in pairs.' 



In the breeding season it is a common thing to witness 

 conflicts between the male birds. Montagu speaks of two which 

 were 'so intent on combat that they both fell to the ground, 

 holding firmly by each others' talons, and actually suffered them- 

 selves to be killed by a woodman who was close by, and who 

 demolished them both with his billhook' It also at such times 

 approaches the villages, which at other times it avoids, perhaps 

 searching for materials for its nest. The young are defended 

 with some vigour against assailants. The hen sits for about 

 three weeks, and during that time is diligently attended to 

 by the male bird. 



The nest is built early in the spring, between the branches 

 of a tall tree, but rather in the middle than at the top, and 

 occasionally on rocky precipices, and is composed of sticks, 

 lined with any soft material, such as straw, hair, grass, wool, 

 or feathers. It is flat in shape, and rather more closely com- 

 pacted than that of some other birds of the Hawk family, 

 and is generally built in the covert of a thick wood. 



The eggs of the Kite, which are rather large and round, 

 very much resemble those of the Common Buzzard, and possibly 

 this fact may afford some confirmatory justification of the 

 juxtaposition of these birds. The ground colour is a dingy 

 white, bluish or greenish white, or dull brownish yellow, and 

 in some instances unspotted at all; in others it is dotted mi- 

 nutely over with yellow or brown, or waved with linear marks, 

 and in others is blotted here and there with brown or reddish 

 brown, but especially at the lower end. They are generally 

 two or three in number rarely four. 



This handsome and fine-looking bird weighs light in pro- 

 portion to its apparent size, so that it is very buoyant in the 

 air: its weight is only about two pounds six ounces, or from 

 that to two pounds and three-quarters; length, two feet two 

 inches, to two feet and a half; bill yellowish, or yellowish 



