THE BRAHMINY KITE 191 



sufficed to guide the bird. Thus it circled round and 

 round, without effort, looking for its prey. Brahminy 

 kites seem, like their vulgar relatives, to be almost 

 omnivorous. They pick their food off the water by 

 preference, while the common kites hunt over dry land. 

 Thus the two species may be said to divide the land and 

 water between them ; but, unfortunately for the peace 

 of the community, each frequently encroaches on the 

 preserve of the other ; this leads to a considerable 

 amount of mutual abuse, which takes the form of 

 squeals. 



Some authorities declare that the Brahminy kite lives 

 chiefly upon insects. This is not so ; the bird will 

 devour insects, as it will eat most things, but it lives 

 chiefly upon garbage, which it finds floating on the 

 water, and on frogs and crabs, which abound in paddy- 

 fields. Numberless Brahminies are seen when one is 

 out snipe-shooting near Madras, and these birds make 

 no bones about carrying off a wounded snipe if they are 

 given half a chance. On one occasion, when I was 

 shooting duck, one of these kites made off with a teal 

 that I had wounded. I fired at him to punish him for 

 his impudence, but he flew off, apparently unscathed, 

 carrying his quarry. 



Some naturalists declare that Haliastur catches fish, 

 much as an osprey or fishing-eagle does. Thus Colonel 

 Sykes says : " It occasionally dips entirely under water, 

 appearing to rise again with difficulty." I do not believe 

 that the bird ever does this ; the worthy Colonel must 

 have mistaken some other species for a Brahminy kite 

 upon this occasion. 



