THE KITE. 149 



however ; I have seen one perched on a bush with 

 several paddy-birds, and a king-fisher has been 

 known to " wipe the eye " of a Brahminy in the 

 matter of a fish the latter was stooping to seize. In 

 this case, however, the small bird paid dearly for his 

 ilnpudence, for the indignant bird of prey vindictively 

 hunted him down and devoured him alive ! 



The Brahminy reminds one rather of the American 

 Bird o'Freedom, and indeed he is rather a dwarf sea- 

 eagle than a Kite. Curiously enough there a,re no 

 Kites, properly so called, in America, for the bird so 

 styled by American ornithologists do not seem parti- 

 •cularly like what we associate with the name in the Old 

 World. One can understand that the carrion-hawks 

 would stand in their way in South America, 

 l)ut it is difiicult to understand why they have not 

 spread into the fine field for eniigration ofiered by the 

 ■top half of the great Western continent. 



