338 BLACK KITE. 
province of Archangel down to the Caucasus and the Caspian Sea. 
In Asia it breeds as far east as Southern Afghanistan, though as a 
rule the representative species beyond the Ural Mountains are 
M. govinda and M. melanotis. In Egypt the resident bird is the 
yellow-billed AZ egyptius, but in winter the Black Kite visits South 
Africa and Madagascar (Newton). It breeds in Africa north of the 
Atlas, and is resident in the Cape Verde Islands. 
The eggs, seldom laid before the beginning of May, are usually 
2 in number, similar in appearance to those of the Red Kite, but 
rather smaller. ‘The nest is frequently placed in a crag in Algeria, 
particularly one studded with bushes or scrub; in Europe, towers, 
ruins, and especially trees—even in populous towns like Pera—are 
selected, and in Spain I have found ten or more nests in a small 
patch of marshy wood. At Bayonne the Black Kite may often be seen 
crossing the streets and steering its way among the telegraph wires, 
or picking up offal and small fish from the river Adour. The latter, 
which it often devours while on the wing, are favourite food; also 
reptiles, frogs, grasshoppers, small birds and mammals. 
The adult male has the throat and forehead whitish and the 
crown pale rufous, streaked with black; mantle umber-brown ; tail 
rather rufous-brown with blackish bars ; under parts rufous-brown, 
especially the flanks ; bill black. Length 24 in.; wing 18 in. The 
female is slightly larger. The young bird is paler in colour, and 
the upper feathers have pale edges. The term ‘Black’ is not 
inapplicable to this bird as observed flying, when the dark under- 
surfaces of the wings and the general sombre hue of the plumage 
are noticeable ; the tail is much less forked than in the Red Kite. 
An example of the American Swallow-tailed Kite, Zlanoides 
Jurcatus, was taken alive during a heavy thunderstorm, near Hawes 
in Yorkshire, on September 6th 1805, but afterwards made its 
escape, and there is ground for suspecting that it had previously 
been in confinement. There are other records of the occurrence in 
Great Britain of this chiefly Neo-tropical species, but none of these 
are, to my mind, satisfactory, and the species has never occurred on 
the Continent. 
I have examined an immature specimen of the Black-winged 
Kite, Zvanus ceruleus, said to have been shot about 1862, in co. 
Meath ; but it was unrecognized for ten years, and the evidence is 
insufficient. The species is semi-tropical. In the Museum at 
Dieppe is (or was) a specimen said to have been obtained on 
September 1st 1841, after a gale from the south-west. 
