66 BRITISH BIRDS. 



ground. I examined the stomachs of all I shot (some ten or twelve), and 

 found them to contain sometimes beetles, sometimes grasshoppers/' A 

 very interesting note on the Swallow-tailed Kite's partiality for bees in 

 Guatemala is recorded by Mr. R. Owen, in ' The Ibis ' for 1860, p. 241 : 

 " Proceeding on our journey, and passing over the broAv of a hill which 

 rose considerably above those surrounding us, we suddenly saw, on the 

 slope beneath us, a large number of Swallow-tailed Kites, gliding back- 

 wards and forwards through the air, directly over the road which we were 

 pursuing. They were near the ground, many of them within ten or twelve 

 yards of it, and numbered from 150 to twice that quantity. They were 

 closely packed, not one straggling for a moment from the rest, and 

 reminded one of our English Swifts as they congregate in flight round an 

 old and lofty edifice. My companion was surprised, no less than myself, 

 to find so many of these birds in company; for, according to the experi- 

 ence of the Coban hunters, they generally go in pairs, although three or 

 four may be occasionally met with together. A few yards of precipitous 

 descent brought us immediately under the birds, and into a swarm of bees 

 upon which they were feeding. The swarm was slowly skirting the hill in 

 compact order, its persecutors sweeping through and through it, with 

 wings extended, and their scissor-like tails widely opened .... At 

 times birds would pass within four or five yards of us, giving us time to 

 observe their movements accurately. Every now and then the neck would 

 be bent slowly and gracefully, bringing the head quite under the body, 

 the beak continuing closed ; at the same time the foot, with the talons 

 contracted as if holding an object in its grasp, would be brought forward 

 until it met the beak. This position was only sustained a moment, during 

 which the beak was seen to open ; the head was then, with closed beak, 

 raised again, and the foot thrown back. . . . The bees, so far as I 

 could observe (for I could not catch one for examination), were about the 

 size of our English hive-bee, but of a brilliant colour, between red and 

 yellow/' 



Although the Swallow-tailed Kite is so abundant in certain localities, 

 but little information has been published respecting its nidification. 

 Audubon mentions that it pairs immediately on its arrival in its summer 

 haunts, and that its courtship takes place in the air, where its fine powers 

 of wing are displayed to even still greater perfection than usual. The 

 same accomplished naturalist also states that the nest is usually placed 

 amongst the topmost branches of the tallest trees, usually on the margin 

 of a stream or pond, and that it resembles that of a Crow, being made of 

 sticks intermixed with " Spanish moss/' and lined with coarse grasses and 

 feathers, and that the eggs are from four to six in number. Dresser, in the 

 article previously referred to, on the birds of Southern Texas, mentions 

 that he found the Swallow-tailed Kites very numerous on a creek near the 



