THE. KITE. 147 



parsimonious prince, for the birds had cost a 

 thousand pounds to procure, being so remarkably 

 good that they had taken nine Kites running without 

 a miss. 



With the advance of sanitation and the decay of 

 falconry the English Kite began to be looked on 

 solely as a nuisance. Cuffs and collars were not safe 

 when he^was furnishing his nest, as Shakespeare 

 knew, and many young chickens fell victims to his 

 insidious attacks. At the same time, there has been 

 no reason to shoot and trap him so mercilessly as has 

 been done, making the Kite one of the rarest of 

 British birds. But as the Indian Kite has the whole 

 of India to range over, and goes even as far as 

 Australia, no amount of sanitation, poultry-breeding, 

 or game-preserving, is likely to bring him anywhere 

 near extermination. Talking of the Kite's residence, 

 it is curious that Jerdon alludes to a story that they 

 leave Calcutta almost entirely, during the rains, which. 

 Dr. Blanford says, is perfectly correct. How such 

 an idea could have arisen I do not know. I have 

 always noticed iKites in the rains, and have never 

 heard that they ever were in the habit of leaving 

 Calcutta then. This Kite is not usually migratory, 

 unlike the big Kite of the hills (Milvus mehmotis) 

 which may be distinguished by its white instead of 

 yellow feet, white patch under the wing, and larger 



