more or less abundantly in almost all parts of the 

 Spanish Peninsula. I have very seldom found the 

 Black Kite in mountainous or even hilly districts, it 

 seems to affect especially the woods on the marshy 

 plains or the banks of large rivers. In general habits 

 this bird much resembles the Common Kite, but, as far 

 as my own experience goes, is more addicted to a diet of 

 reptiles, fishes, and insects than that species. In Spain 

 the present species generally nests in pine-trees, poplars, 

 or willows, at a considerable height from the ground : 

 several pairs are often to be found breeding in close 

 vicinity. I never noticed such a variety of rubbish in 

 the materials of the nests of the Black Kite as in those 

 of the " Forky-tail," as the Common Kite was frequently 

 called at the time when it really was " common " in this 

 country ; the eggs are white, with speckles and streaks 

 of rusty brown. In Central Spain we generally met 

 with large colonies of the so-called "Spanish" Sparrow 

 {Passer salicicolus) nesting in the immediate neighbour- 

 hood of both species of Kite, and in more than one 

 instance actually found nests of these Sparrows amongst 

 the foundations of those of the Kites. 



