FALCON IDAE 



169 



known to breed in certain parts of Northern and A^'este^n 

 Britain, though no longer the ubiquitous scavenger of the 

 streets, so common even in London three or four centuries ago. 

 Bold thefts of poultry from farmyards and linen from drying- 

 grounds then counterbalanced its utility, but none the less may 

 we regret the almost total extermination of this fine tenant of the 

 air, caused by the increase of fire-arms and the discovery that 



Fig. 41. — Bed Kite. Milvws Minus, x |. (From Bird Life, in Sweden.) 



its tail-feathers make the choicest salmon-flies. Not unlike a 

 Buzzard when aloft, the shrill whistling note, when heard, con- 

 stitutes a clear mark of distinction ; while the broad wings and 

 long deeply-forked tail bestow such graceful ease of motion and 

 perfect steerage power as few birds can claim, whether for soar- 

 ing and circling aloft, quartering the ground for booty, or hover- 

 inc over the water to fish. It is not always, however, that the 

 forked character of the tail is apparent, for when fully open it 

 looks square, just as a square tail seems rounded. This species 



