at Laaland and Falster, in Southern Seeland, and in Central Jutland, but is far from being as 

 numerous as the Buzzard. He knows no instance of its having been known to winter there ; for 

 it is a true migrant, arriving in March, or else in very mild seasons late in February, and leaving 

 again in October. Mr. C. Sachse informs me that in the vicinity of Altenkirchen, in Rhenish 

 Prussia, the Kite arrives late in February and leaves, in companies of twenty to fifty individuals, 

 in October or November. This spring (1875) he says he saw three individuals for the first time 

 on the 3rd March, during heavy snow and severe frost. 



In Hollaud it only occurs during passage, Mr. van Wickevoort Crommelin informs me that 

 it is a rare visitant during the spring passage in April, and that he once observed it in August 

 on the coast ; and Mr. H. M. Labouchere writes that hitherto it has only been observed in the 

 Provinces of North Brabant, Guelderland, and Groningen. In Belgium it also occurs during 

 passage, the periods of its migration coinciding with those of the "Woodcock. It is, however, 

 said to breed in Luxemburg. In the wooded portions of France it is resident, and is found more 

 especially in the departments of the Landes, and in some districts of the Pyrenees ; it also occurs 

 in less abundance in Provence and Champagne, and on passage in the lower Languedoc and 

 near Lille. 



It occurs in Portugal, and is, Professor Barboza du Bocage says, common at Alemtejo. 

 Dr. Bey also says that he observed it in Estremadura and at Algarve. In Spain it is a common 

 and resident species throughout the peninsula ; and I saw many during the early spring and in 

 the breeding-season in the different parts of Spain I visited. Colonel Irby, however, says that 

 in the vicinity of Gibraltar it seldom occurs, except on passage, and is as common in Southern 

 Spain in winter as at any other season. Dr. Brehm states that near Toledo he saw flocks of 

 several hundred individuals collected in the evening like Crows before retiring to roost. Passing 

 eastward, again, we find it occurring in Savoy during passage, being more numerous in some 

 seasons than in others ; and Bailly says that a few remain there to breed, and that the nests of 

 this species may usually be found near Bourget, Dent-du-Chat, Mery, and the cliffs above the 

 Rhone and the Isere. In Italy, according to Salvadori, it is common and resident in the central 

 and southern provinces, but rarer in the north, especially in Piedmont. In Sicily it is numerous, 

 and breeds in most of the wooded districts of the interior. 



Mr. C. A. Wright says (Ibis, 1 864, p. 46) that it is " very rare in Malta and Gozo. It is 

 said by Schembri to breed in Gozo ; but I have not been able to obtain any confirmation of this 

 fact." It occurs in Greece, but does not appear ever to remain to breed there. Lord Lilford 

 writes (Ibis, 1860, p. 9) as follows: — "Not common in Epirus. I did not see a single specimen 

 during the first winter that I passed among Greek seas. I noticed a pair several times about 

 Butrinto during the very severe frosts of December 1857 and January 1858, and found the 

 species rather abundant in Acarnania in the last-named and following months. Among the fine 

 oak-forests in the neighbourhood of Tragamesti a pair or two were generally to be seen, soaring 

 in circles at a great elevation, and occasionally swooping down near the tree-tops. The bird- 

 stuffer at Corfu did not recognize this species by its Italian, Greek, or English names, and told 

 me that he had never seen or heard of any Hawk with a forked tail. The Greek shepherds in 

 Acarnania, when we pointed out this species to them, said they had never before noticed it. 

 From these circumstances I think we may infer that this species is a rare and only occasional 



