182 BOMBAY DUCKS 



The rarer the bird, the greater its value to the col- 

 lector; hence every uncommon species is shot to 

 extinction. The kite is now just not extinct in Eng- 

 land. Its extermination has been prevented only by 

 the fact that a few landowners have interested them- 

 selves in the bird and are protecting it. The kite, 

 however, flourishes in the East, and is likely to do so 

 for many years to come. It will be a very long time 

 before India is Europeanized to such an extent that 

 the kites have to subsist on poultry. 



The kite (Milvus govinda) is one of the commonest 

 birds in the " Land of Regrets." It is so very common 

 there that it does not receive half the attention it de- 

 serves. Were it a rare bird we should marvel at its 

 wonderful powers of flight. Indeed, the new arrival in 

 India, if he ever notices natural objects, is perhaps 

 more struck by the kites than by anything else in this 

 country. Colonel Cunningham writes, after thirty 

 years' residence in India, that he was so impressed by 

 the kites that it seems only yesterday that he first saw 

 them wheeling over the stream of the Hooghly. 



I cannot refrain from quoting his description of 

 them : " In truth, they are very beautiful birds. Their 

 bright, bold, brown eyes and cruel talons are splendid 

 objects ; the soft shading of their plumage is admirable, 

 especially when seen at a short distance, as the great 

 birds glide gently to and fro, passing and repassing 

 through alternate zones of sunshine and shadow ; no- 

 thing can prevent their flight, with its easy evolutions, 

 smoothly sweeping spires and headlong plunges, from 

 being an endless source of delight to the onlooker." 



