624 



RAPTORES, OR BIRDS OF PREY. 



brother, it often ventures to attack Kites and Buzzards, and, by 

 its agility, harasses them with impunity. The Chanting Falcon 

 (Melierax musicus), which is about the size of the Goshawk, sings 

 in the vicinity of the female during the season of incubation. It 

 is the only musician among- birds of the Rapacious order, and 

 therefore has claim to honourable mention. 



Both the Goshawks and the Sparrow-hawks were employed in 



hawking in days of old, but their 

 relative value was much inferior 

 to that of the Falcon. 



The birds which belong to the 

 KITE genus .(Milvus) are charac- 

 terised as follows : Beak curved 

 from the base, and not toothed ; 

 tarsi short, slender, and feathered 

 on the upper part ; wings very 

 long ; tail long, and more or less 

 forked ; colour generally brown. 

 Several species are known, but 

 their characteristics are identical. 

 The Kite (Milvus regalis), Fig. 

 297, thus named on account of 

 affording amusement for princes, 

 who hunted it with the Falcon, 

 and even the Sparrow-hawk, 

 measures two feet in height, the spread of its wings being not less 

 than five feet. Of all the Falcon tribe this bird is gifted with the 

 most graceful, rapid, and sustained powers of flight. It is so 

 incessantly on the wing, that it appears scarcely to require rest. 

 Love for soaring through space must be the cause of this activity, 

 as it never pursues its prey, but descends upon it from the pro- 

 digious heights at which it may be hovering with incredible 

 velocity, and seizing it in its claws, bears it to some adjacent 

 tree to be devoured. Its food consists of leverets, moles, rats, 

 field-mice, reptiles, and fish the latter it catches on the surface 

 of the water. It builds its nest on lofty trees, rarely on rocks. 

 It is a constant resident in some parts of France, and is met 

 with in nearly all countries of Europe. 



Fig. 297. The Kite (Milvus regalis}. 



