5 8 Summer Studies of Birds and Books chap. 



primaries standing out distinct from each other like a 

 Crow's ; the tail long, the ' fork ' most distinct — as if 

 a deep segment of a circle had been cut out of it. 



N was just saying that this might be the last 



survivor of the race, when a second bird appeared 

 rising from the wood to our left, and then soared 

 just over our heads, giving us a splendid view. The 

 two then circled in a slow upward flight : the wings 

 beaten eight to twelve times in succession, with a 

 curving motion of the wing, then a graceful glide 

 round half or more of the circle. At last they 

 became mere specks in the blue, and we could hardly 

 keep them in view even with a strong field-glass." 



These splendid birds were then engaged upon a 

 nest in a place very far indeed from being inac- 

 cessible. I need not say that we left that nest 

 wholly undisturbed, and that we bound ourselves to 

 betray the secret of the spot to no one. Yet when 

 next I had news of the district the harpies had 

 descended upon it : 



" Nee saevior ulla 

 Pestis et ira deum Stygiis sese extulit undis." 



Whether they robbed the Kites' nest I know not, 

 but they wrought other havoc. From what I saw two 

 months later I am inclined to hope that the Kites 

 retreated to a position from which even an egg-dealer 

 would have found it hard to dislodge them, and that 



