KITES. 



199 



are laid in April or May. Nothing comes- amiss to a kite when building, and, 

 while the main framework of the nest is formed of sticks, these are supplemented 

 1 >y all kinds of rubbish, such as bones, fragments of leather, and rags, the latter 

 forming the lining. When their nest is attacked, the parent birds make a vigorous 

 resistance. As we have already had occasion to notice, the kite was a favourite 

 quarry in hawking, showing excellent sport by the manner in which it endeavoured 



BLACK KITE AND RED KITE (i nat. size). 



to baffle the falcon in its efforts to gain the advantage of position. More rarely the 

 kite itself was trained to fly at the smaller kinds of birds. 



The black or migratory kite (M. migrans), represented in the upper 

 figure of our illustration, is a rather smaller bird than the last, from which 

 it may be distinguished by its dark brown tail, faintly barred with a still deeper 

 tint, the general dark brown hue of the plumage of the upper -parts, save on 

 the head and throat, where the feathers are whitish with dark stripes. It 

 is further characterised by the black beak, and the absence of any distinct patch 



