DIURNAL BIRDS OF PREY. 



219 



along in ita circling flight, and maintaining its equipoise by the 

 slightest movement of its pinions. From its airy height, it sud- 

 denly darts down upon the object of its prey, such as rabbits, 

 lif-res, game of all kinds, poultry, and birds which cannot fly. 



The Kite. 



The Swallow-tailed Falcon is an inhabitant of North 

 America, but has been more than once taken in England. It 

 feeas on the wing, like the swallows, pursuing the large moths 

 ana other insects with an ease and rapidity for which its formation 

 eminently fits it. These insects are, however, not the only food 

 of this bird. Audubon mentions that "their principal food is 

 large grasshoppers, grass caterpillars, small snakes, lizards, and 

 frogs. They sweep close over the fields, sometimes stooping to 

 secure a snake, and holding it fast by the neck, carry it off', and 

 devour it in the air." Its nest is built on the summit of an aged 

 pine or oak, and its eggs are from four to six in number, of a 

 greenish white color, irregularly spotted with brown at the large 

 end. The length of this bird is two feet. 



The Perigrine, or Common Falcon, is brown above, with 



