336 KITE. 
much addicted to migration. At long intervals single birds or pairs 
—wanderers from the Continent—are observed in the eastern por- 
tion of Great Britain; but as the Kite is not often permitted to 
pass westward, the gaps left by the destruction of our indigenous 
and resident birds have little chance of being filled. In Ireland, 
according to the late Mr. More, it has only been observed five or 
six times. 
To Heligoland the Kite is a very rare visitor. In Scandinavia it 
is not known to breed north of lat. 61°, whence it emigrates on the 
approach of cold weather; as it does also from Denmark and 
Germany, where it is common in summer. In Russia it is not 
found to the east of the Governments of Tula and Orel, or of the 
river Dneiper. Over the rest of Europe it is generally distributed, 
and in the Mediterranean basin it is resident, as it is in the 
Canaries. It is not rare in North Africa as far east as Tunis, but 
in Egypt it is represented by JZ agyptius; it breeds, however, in 
Palestine and Asia Minor, though more abundant there in winter. 
The nest, which is usually placed in a tree—though in North 
Africa it has been found in crags—is composed of sticks, mixed with 
a variety of rubbish—such as bones, fragments of newspapers and 
old rags, as well as the “lesser linen” for which the Kite’s pre- 
dilection was well known to Shakespeare. The eggs, laid in April 
or early in May, and rarely more than 3 in number, are dull white 
or very pale blue, spotted, blotched, and sometimes streaked with 
reddish brown: measurements 2°25 by 1°75 in. The food is offal, 
small mammals, birds, reptiles, frogs, and fish ; but though the Kite 
is detrimental to very young game and poultry (especially when it 
has to satisfy a brood), and is emphatically a ‘ snapper-up of uncon- 
sidered trifles,” it is not a powerful species. On the wing the wide 
circles of its flight are remarkably graceful; either side of the out- 
spread tail being raised or depressed at will, and serving to govern 
the bird’s course. In the search for prey a large extent of ground 
is daily covered. ‘The cry is a shrill whéw, heh-heh-heh. 
The adult has the head and neck white, striped with black ; mantle 
rufous-brown; primaries blackish; tail rufous and much forked ; 
under parts rusty red, striped with dark brown on the breast ; under 
side of wings whitish, with a dark patch (very conspicuous in 
flight); legs and feet yellow; iris yellowish-white. Length about 
25 in., wing 20 in. The male is a trifle smaller than the female, but 
his colours are brighter and his tail is longer and more forked. The 
young ate paler and more mottled on both upper and under parts. 
