70 FALCONIDJE. 



fed the young regularly for eight days, or until he was himself 

 secured : he must have dropped the food to them during the 

 whole period, as he could not otherwise have fed them without 

 being trapped or snared.* It is stated, that all the birds brought 

 to the young were plucked, and had the heads taken off. Young 

 birds were procured three years successively from nests there on 

 a particular branch of the same tree, though there was abundance 

 of wood in the demesne. The food contained in many sparrow- 

 hawks which I have examined, consisted of birds only. 



The sparrow-hawk's mode of flight is admirably described by 

 Sir William Jardine,t and a full and excellent description of the 

 species is given by Mr. Macgillivray ; Professor Wilson, too, dis- 

 courses on it in his own eloquent manner. J 



THE KITE. 



Milvus regalis, Briss. 

 Falco milvus, Linn. 



Is known only as a very rare visitant. 



The uame of " Kite " appears commonly in the catalogues of 

 birds given in the Statistical Surveys of the Irish counties, and 

 elsewhere; but, as the larger species of the Falconida are in 

 some places called Kite and Glead, as well as Goshawk or Goose- 

 hawk, there can be no doubt that the buzzard, or some common 

 species, was generally meant. The mere fact of rewards having 

 been offered in the Irish Statutes || for the destruction of the 

 " kite," as one of the birds of prey, does not prove anything with 

 respect to the veritable species. 



Smith, in his History of Cork, completed in 1749, could hardly 

 be mistaken, as he does not content himself with stating that 

 " the kite is distinguished from all other birds of prey by its 

 forked tail," but adds, " that it remains with us all the year." He 



* See Macgillivray, Hist. Brit. Birds, vol. iii. p. 354 and 360. 



f Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 151. 



\ Recreations of Christopher North, vol. i. p. 90-91. 



|| 11th Anne, ch 7 and 17 ; Geo. II. ch. 10. 



