KITES. 121 



be supposed that hunger is the cause of these combats ; but 

 that, however ungallant they may be in the style in which 

 they are conducted, gallantry is the principle from which they 

 proceed. 



The kite has, from the extent of its wings and its tail, very 

 great command of the atmosphere and possession of itself in 

 that element. It does not beat along in straight lines, but 

 wheels in curves, which it is constantly opening and closing, 

 and always in a smooth and graceful manner, without any 

 jerks ; and if it were possible to trace a day's path of a kite, 

 it would be a very fine specimen of looped curves. The kite 

 can hover for a long time over the same spot, with very little 

 exertion of the wings and though there is a fresh breeze ; 

 and there are times (probably when it has lost sight of some 

 prize on the ground, or discovered that the prize over which 

 it was hovering was no prize at all), at which it will " give 

 itself to the wind," and drift to leeward in very beautiful 

 style, and apparently with complete self-possession. Crows 

 often do the same, especially upon the elevated moors, where 

 prey is but scanty, and they have been long contending with 

 the wind. Kites will also sometimes turn down the wind to 

 escape the more powerful falcons, which though they do not 

 attack the kite, often frighten it, and make it lose its prey ; 

 and as going down the wind is not a habit of the falcons, the 

 kite gets away from them by the manoeuvre. That manoeuvre, 

 though held in great contempt by the falcon, is by no means 

 an ungraceful or uninteresting one ; the bird rides lightly on 

 the wind, but retains its self-command, so that it can take a 

 new direction whenever it pleases. The axis of its body is 

 placed at an angle to the wind, which is smaller in proportion 

 as that is stronger ; and the windward wing is elevated, so 

 that the wind takes the under side at an angle, and tends to 

 raise the bird obliquely upward, while its weight presses 

 downward and counteracts. When looked at, the bird always 



