THE OSPREY. 87 



which was chirping quite loudly, but none showed the leaBt desire to molest it, 

 but playfully gamboled about in the air above, chasing and diving at one 

 another like children at play. 



The "Blue Darter" or "Mosquito Hawk", as this bird is locally called, 

 seems to have little or no fear of man; many times 1 have ridden within twenty 

 feet of one resting on some small tree. At other times they will catch and eat 

 their prey within a few feet of the passerby's head. 



A peculiar trait of the Mississippi Kite is that all of their food is caught 

 with their talons, and it is a rare occurrence that an insect is missed. Locusts, 

 or Cicada, form a large percentage of the Kite's food and as usual are caught 

 in mid-air. W^hen one of these insects finds himself the object of a Kite's 

 downward plunge, he gives vent to the most ridiculous cries and seems to go 

 almost crazy with fear. 



However gentle this bird may be when feeding, it is quite the op- 

 posite when their homes are intruded upon by the collector. To illustrate the 

 bird's fierce nature at such times, 1 will relate the experience I had at one of 

 the first nests I found of this species. On the morning of the 22nd of June, 

 while passing through a small gum and oak wood, making a special search 

 for Kites' nests, I was at last rewarded by seeing one, sixty-five feet up, in the 

 tip-top of a slender gum tree. Walking to the base of the tree I gave the 

 grape vine, which was suspended from it, a pull, and the old bird left the nest 

 without a cry. Having no climbers with me I left the nest, and returned with 

 these and other necessary articles in the evening and began the climb. 



I had scarely made half the distance when three or four Kites began to circle 

 about on a level with the tree-top, and as I seated myself to rest on a branch, 

 twelve feet below the nest, one of the birds began to dart at me. It was a very 

 pugnacious fellow and would circle around within twenty-five feet of me until 

 it would catch my ej'e; then, pausing for a moment, it would dart directly at 

 me, to within six or eight feet of my face, when it would swoop suddenly up- 

 ward, emitting at the same time a sharp shrieking cry. This performance was 

 kept up until I descended, the birds darting closer as I reached the nest. 

 Looking over the edge of the nest I saw to my surprise only a single egg, 

 which was warm ; this I left hoping to secure the full set later. 



The next day, June 23, found me strapping my climbers on under the 

 the tree. I rapidly made the climb but imagine my chagrin when on looking 

 over the edge of the nest I found the egg broken into small pieces, and as there 

 were no Kites about, I decided that the owners had destroyed their egg. Bloody 

 stains on the shells indicated that incubation was well advanced. The ground 

 color of the egg was bluish white, while creamy and light brown markingB, 

 resembling stains, covered about a third of the shell. 



This nest was placed in a double fork, six feet from the top of the tree, 



