THE OoLOGIST. 



259 



My friend toM me the old birds 

 haunted his place for several days after, 

 ottering mournful notes. As I remem- 

 ber them, the youn>- birds were light 

 plupiaged, with a few dark feather on 

 the back. 



I took the egg home and though it 

 was rotten, blew it endways and after 

 wards exchanged it to a neighboring 

 collector for a Catbird's egg. This 

 Kite's egg was qui e heavily marked 

 and was between a Kestril's and a Red- 

 shouldered Hawk's egg iu size. 



Almost every season since I found my 

 first White-tailed Kite's nest. I have 

 visited the locality and have always 

 been able to find one or more birds 

 hovering over the tree tops. During 

 the heat of the day they are content to 

 rest iu the shady oaks, only now and 

 then venturing forth iu quest of food, 

 but as dusk approaches and a cool and 

 refreshing breeze is fanning the heated 

 fields* the Kites can be seen performing 

 their beautiful evolution, now skim 

 ming almost out of sight iu the distance 

 and then returning to some favorite 

 perch. Their flight at dusk has given 

 them the name of "^Nighthawks" by 

 local collectors. The Kite feeds upon 

 lizards, and small mammals and rep- 

 tiles, thus rendering an important ser- 

 vice to the farmer. 



On April 29th of this year I paid this 

 locality a visit to look for the nests of 

 the California Jay and Thrasher, but 

 after a long and fruitless tramp I turned 

 my steps toward home, and while cross- 

 ing a field, similar to the one described, 

 I noticed a Kite soaring about and soon 

 its mate came in view. This tilled me 

 with new ambitions, as it was just the 

 time for them to nest. I watched them 

 closely aud both alighted in a white 

 oak tree, but as the tree had but few 

 leaves, I saw there was no nest. Then 

 one sailed away again and hovered for 

 some tithe over a large live oak, • and I 

 made for the tree. It was some fifty 

 feet in height and iu the crotch of the 



loftiest limb I could see a dark object 

 which I took to be a nest. Full of hope 

 I was making desperate efforts to reach 

 the first limb when >I heard footsteps- 

 and a moment later a voice, which I 

 knew came from one not long from the 

 old county. I slid down aud stood face 

 to face with the owner of the field, who 

 seeing me tramping through his grain, 

 had come to have an explanation. "Haf 

 you lost anything"? he excitedly asked,, 

 while I ffazed longingly at the black 

 spot iu the top of the tree. I replied 1 

 didn't miss anything, whereupon he in- 

 formed me I was a trespasser and tri d 

 to impress upon me the gravity of the 

 situation. I responded by offering him 

 a quarter lo let me climb, but he could 

 not be bribed aud I was obliged to take 

 a short cut out of his held. 



Ou May 3rd, I again visited the spot 

 aud by crawling a distauce through the 

 grain reached the tree and made the 

 ascent. ' Sure enough it was a White- 

 tailed Kite's nest but a last year's one. 

 It measured twenty inches across and 

 was very shallow. It was made of 

 sticks of all sizes up to a lead pencil 

 and was loosely constructed. It had 

 evidently been lined with grass, which 

 had now partially rotted. In the -same 

 vicinity I observed three pairs of Kites, 

 but the manner in which they acted, in- 

 dicated they had not yet built. I found! 

 the tree in which they had roosted 

 nightly. The body of the tree and all 

 the limbs were completely covered with' 

 excrement. I regret I could not have" 

 made a trip to this place a week or two 

 later as probably two sets at least were 

 deposited ia that neighborhood. 



This Kite is not an uncommon breed- 

 er in this Valley though they seem to 

 favor certain localities, and seldom go> 

 any distance from their breeding 

 grouuds. Two or three years ago a 

 friend collector took a set of four hand- 

 some eggs from a nest in the top of a 

 white oak in the center of a field. 



The White-tailed Kite has pure white 



