FALCONID^ ELANUS 343 



(Eriksson in S. A. Mus.), rare in Damaraland (Andersson) ; Zambesi 

 Valley (Kirk and Alexander). 



Habits.— The Black-shouldered Kite is not uncommon in the 

 neighbourhood of Cape Town. Mr. Layard states that it is a 

 migrant, arriving in March or April, but the data at my disposal do 

 not altogether bear out this conclusion. It is usually seen in pairs, 

 and is described as a bold and fearless bird often seen perched on 

 the bare branches of high trees, where its almost white plumage 

 makes it rather conspicuous. It is a noisy creature and has a loud 

 and piercing cry, generally heard when on the wing. Its prey con- 

 sists of rats, small birds, reptiles, and insects, and it has been known 

 to attack and kill a caged canary, while farmers' wives say it is 

 outrageously fond of their chickens. Mr. Layard received eggs 

 obtained by Mr. Kotze from nests on the banks of the Berg river, 

 and there are eggs in the South African Museum taken on the 

 Cape Flats close to Capetown. 



Dr. Stark gives the following account of a nest of this bird 

 shown to him by Mr. Ivy : — " Grahamstown, October 2, 1897. 

 Perched on the top of a dead tree by the side of a sluggish stream, 

 fringed by mimosas and large oak trees in leaf, I saw a black- 

 shouldered Kite, and shortly afterwards found its nest on the top 

 of a mimosa about 23 feet above the ground. The nest contained 

 five eggs, which were slightly incubated. It was quite exposed 

 and the mimosa stood at the edge of the fringe of bush by the 

 stream facing an open field on one side. Ivy told me that the 

 Kites had nested in the same tree the year before. There was 

 another nest of the same bird on the other side of the stream also 

 with eggs. On October i I returned and saw both Kites perghed 

 on the same dead tree twenty yards from the harried nest. The 

 latter I photographed and then cut off the top of the tree containing 

 it. It was about 18 inches below the top of the tree and measured 

 12 inches across and 5 inches deep, the hollow being about 7 inches 

 by 2|- and lined with dry grass. • The nest itself was loosely con- 

 structed of flexible dried twigs." 



This nest is now exhibited in the South African Museum. The 

 ground colour of the eggs is white slightly tinged with green ; this 

 is clouded and blotched with a rich purplish-brown, sometimes but 

 very slightly, at other times to such an extent as almost to conceal 

 the ground colour. The measurements vary from 1-75 to 1-50 X 

 1-30 to 1-20. 



