iS- 



KITE. 



MILVUS REGALIS [PnlL] 



Accipitei' regalis, Pall. Zoogr. Rosso- As. i. p. 356 (1811). 

 Falco milvus, Linn. S. N. i. p. 126 (1766) ; Naum. i. p. 333. 

 Milvus ictinus, Savigny, Syst. Ois. de I'Egypte, p. 28 ; Yarr. 



ed. 4j i. p. 92 ; Dresser, v. p. 643. 

 Milvus regalis, Macg. iii. p. 265. 

 Milvus vulgaris, Hewitson, i. p. 36. 



Milan royal, French ; rothe Milan, Gabelweihe, German ; 

 Milano real, Spanish. 



This beautiful bird, which, within my recollection, was 

 by no means uncommon about our home in North- 

 amptonshire, and abundant in some of the great wood- 

 lands of Huntingdonshire, as in many other parts of 

 England, is now very rare in Great Britain. Certain 

 districts of South and North Wales are still ornamented 

 by the occasional visits of the Kite, and I feel sure that 

 all lovers of birds must have shared my disgust at a 

 recent announcement in the ' Field ' that no less than 

 five of this species had been slaughtered within a small 

 area of the Principality since the beginning of this year 

 (1889). T believe that a few Kites still annually visit the 

 Highlands of Scotland, and can only hope that the pro- 

 tection afforded in one praiseworthy instance that has 



