Kites and Bald Eagle 235 



appearance, and possessed of great power, he has, compared with the Falcons, 

 a poor spirit, and his name is a term of reproach that signifies cowardice and 

 rapacity. A carrion-eater, he also preys on small mammals, reptiles, and birds, 

 in most cases the young, the sickly, or wounded." The nest is a bulky affair 

 of sticks and rubbish placed in a tree or a ledge on a rock. The eggs, two to 

 four in number, are much spotted with brown. 



Black Kite. Another widely distributed species is the Black or Migrat- 

 ing Kite (M. migrant), which is found in central and southern Europe, central 

 Asia, and southward in winter over the whole of Africa. It is a little smaller 

 than the Common Kite and is easily distinguished by its much darker color 

 above and by the dark brown, indistinctly barred tail. It is an active bird, 

 filling the place of a scavenger in many places, gaining most of its food from 

 refuse heaps, offal from slaughter-houses, and an occasional fowl. It nests 

 in the tops of palm trees. 



The Arabian Kite (M. (Egyptius), which extends over the whole of Africa 

 and Madagascar, and thence into southeastern Europe, Greece, and Dalmatia, 

 is quite similar to the Common Kite, being distinguished among other char- 

 acters by the brown, black-barred tail and bright yellow cere and bill. 



The Pariah or Govind Kite (M. govinda) replaces the black species in the 

 Indian peninsula and the Himalayas; while another and larger species (M. 

 melanotis] ranges from the Indian peninsula through Japan and China to For- 

 mosa. The former is a great scavenger, frequenting the streets of cities and 

 towns, while the latter is a shyer bird, keeping more to the jungles. 



The Everglade Kite (Rostrhamus sociabilis), which is found from Florida 

 through tropical America to Argentina, is a form of very doubtful relationships, \ 

 but by some authorities has been placed here. It is a dark slate-colored bird 

 about eighteen inches in length, and subsists almost entirely on snails, whence 

 it is often called the Snail-Hawk. 



The Sea Eagles. We may next consider the Sea Eagles, a magnificent 

 group of some seven or eight species that are fully the equal in size and appear- 

 ance, if not indeed the superiors, of the true Eagles. They are at once distin- 

 guished by having the lower third of the tarsus naked all round, and are further 

 characterized by the lanceolate feathers on the whole head and neck. They 

 possess a long, very powerful, strongly hooked bill and enormously developed 

 feet, which are armed with strong, curved claws. The genus (Haliaetus) is 

 distributed throughout the entire world except South America, two species 

 and one or two local races being natives of North America. 



Bald Eagle. One of the noblest of the species is the Bald Eagle, or White- 

 headed Sea Eagle, as it is sometimes called (H. leucocephalus), chosen as the 

 national emblem of the United States. It is almost too well known to need de- 

 scription, as it is a not uncommon sight throughout the whole North American 

 continent, being, moreover, especially abundant in Florida. The adults are uni- 

 form dusky brown throughout, except the head and neck, tail and tail-coverts, 

 which are pure white, in sharp contrast to the rest of the body. The males are 

 from thirty to thirty-five inches in length, with an extent of wings of about seven 



