232 ScientifiG Proceedings, Royal Dublin Society. 



in their habits, each bird choosing some old stump or dead bough 

 as a stand from which to overlook the surrounding ground, and 

 whence, on catching sight of a prey, they fly down, capture it, 

 and carry it back to their seat, there to consume it at their 

 leisure. Their food consists almost entirely of grasshoppers, but 

 worms and small birds are occasionally taken, and 1 once saw a 

 male bird chase a loggerhead, which, however, escaped by taking 

 refuge among thick weeds. 



PoLYBORUS CHERIWAY (Jacq.) Caracara Eagle. — This species 

 is not unfrequent upon the prairie, generally in pairs, but some- 

 times singly, at all seasons of the year. They may often be seen 

 feeding upon the dead bodies of cattle, in company with vultures, 

 but, as soon as putrefaction begins, the caracaras cease to feed on 

 it, while the vultures seem to relish it the more. They feed also 

 upon cotton-tail rabbits, lizards, grasshoppers, and beetles. They 

 are shy birds, rarely, even when feeding, allowing of an approach 

 within gunshot, and then only by a person riding. Their flight, 

 though strong, is heavy, and before rising they have to run a few 

 yards to gain sufficient impetus. The nest is placed high up on 

 a tree, and is formed of sticks and twigs, lined with weeds, and 

 the eggs are laid during March, the male assisting in their incu- 

 bation. 



Elanoides forficatus (Linn.) Swallow-tailed Kite. — This 

 beautiful bird arrives in our district about the beginning of April, 

 and during that month examples may be seen almost every day, 

 but generally at a great height. These probably pass on further 

 north, as it was not until the middle of May that I remarked 

 them to be plentiful in the timber along the river banks. During 

 the last week in June I found them breeding gregariously in 

 Eichland Creek, the nests being placed on the upper branches of 

 tall cotton woods bordering the creek, mostly away from the 

 main trunk, and quite inaccessible. They did not appear to stir 

 about much during the heat of the day, but appeared in large 

 numbers about two hours before sunset, gliding immediately 

 above the tops of the trees. About the middle of July they 

 begin to visit the prairie in flocks consisting both of old and 

 young birds, and numbering sometimes as many as two hundred 

 individuals. These flocks gradually dwindle away during 

 August, until by the end of that month all have gone south. At 



