Vol. XIV 
Hoy Bartow, Nesting Habits of White-tailed Kite. 17 
hidden in the leafy top of the oak, and only to be seen on close 
inspection from the ground beneath. At this date, March 17, the 
nest contained four eggs, which were warm and very slightly 
incubated. The parent bird was not seen until I had left the 
tree, and had doubtless been enjoying her morning exercise. ‘lhe 
nest, which is a typical one, measured twelve inches across, with 
a depression in the center of perhaps three inches, and was com- 
posed of small dead twigs from the live oak, and lined with fine 
straw stubble, from the field near by. The four eggs constituting 
this set are of an unusual type, three of them being marked chiefly 
about the ends, while the fourth is streaked lengthwise more 
heavily than the average egg. 
I did not visit the locality again until April 5, when both birds 
were observed sitting quietly in the top of one of the tallest trees, 
this time some distance from their former nest. I, however, 
repaired to the nest and found it to contain three eggs, it being 
evident that the set was not complete. On the gth five eggs had 
been laid and the female quietly left the nest when I was half-way 
up the tree. The same nest had been used in which the first set 
had been laid, and the birds had added no new lining. The 
parent birds showed little concern, remaining quietly at a distance 
and giving expression to an occasional ‘ whistle’. The time which 
had elapsed between the taking of the first set of four eggs and 
the completion of the second set of five was twenty-three days. 
It seems unusual that the second laying should have consisted of 
five eggs, and the set itself exhibits extreme variation in coloration, 
the specimen with the buff ground color and dark markings being 
perhaps the oddest of all. The white egg and the bright reddish 
specimen were laid last. The eggs of this set average somewhat 
larger than the first laying of four eggs. The three sets of eggs 
to which we have thus far referred are the production of one pair 
of birds during the seasons of 1894 and 1895, and will, I think, if 
the normal types from each set be compared, show a similarity, in 
that the markings tend toward the ends of the eggs asa rule. Be- 
fore disposing of this pair of Kites I will say that I did not visit 
them again during 1895, but early this year while looking over 
the ground I discovered another nest in a small oak, which had 
been used, and which leads me to believe that the birds laid a 
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