KITES— HONE Y- KITES. 3 1 7 



— creatures that are taken without much exertion or power. In former 

 days, when the Kite waa more abundant in these islands than it is now, 

 it was said to be a great enemy to the poultry, young chickens forming 

 a favourite object of its pursuit. At the present day, however, the 

 Kite need cause the poultry-keeper no alarm. Its haunt now, where but 

 a remnant of its former numbers find a last retreat, is in the wildest 

 districts of Scotland, or Wales, where the Bed Grouse is probably its 

 favourite fare. How the Kite managea to take so large and strong a bird as 

 a cock Red Grouse is surprising; and it is most probably only the young and 

 weakly ones that fall victims to its swoop. Mr. Booth also suggests that the 

 Peregrine ofttimes unwittingly finds the Kite a meal, and puts a bird in its 

 way that would never be secured unless weakly or wounded. As is well 

 known, that bold, rapacious Falcon often strikes a bird for mere sport, and 

 will leave it where it lies ; and there, no doubt, it is sometimes found by the 

 less active Kite and conveyed away. The note of the Kite may be compared 

 to a wild plaintive scream or 'mew,' and is but rarely heard, save in the 

 breeding season. Unmusical as its cry may be, still it appears to be full of 

 wild harmony with the rugged scenery of its haunts, imbues them with life, 

 and, when heard as the bird is flying far overhead, lends a charm to districts 

 where other bird life is wanting." 



The Kites which most approach the Falcons are the Perns or Honey- 

 Kites. These have a peculiarly soft plumage, unmistakable to the touch of a 

 practised ornithologist ; and this is shared by many of the Falcons, showing that 

 it is practically impossible to draw distinctive characters between the sub- 

 families of Accipitrine birds. Thus the Buzzards merge into the Eagles, and 

 thence through the Sea-Eagles and the Brahminy Kites we reach the true Kites, 

 and from them the Perns, which are half Falcons, and thence the transition 

 is easy to the true Falcons. So it may be affirmed that there is scarcely any 

 order of birds in which the natural connection of the families, sub-families, 

 and genera are better maintained and exemplified than in the Accipitrifonnes. 



Some of the most curious of the Ferns, and, one may say, of all Birds of 

 Prey, are the Black Perns (Maehcerhamphus). They are nocturnal birds, 

 coming forth in the twilight to feed on bats and small swifts. One species, 

 M. anderssoni, is Ethiopian, being found in Tropical Africa and Madagascar; 

 while the second species, M. alcinus, inhabits Southern Burma, the Malayan 

 Peninsula, Borneo, and extends to New Guinea. 



These birds are generally called Honey-" Buzzards," but it is certainly 

 wrong to think of them as Buzzards. Their habits, their 

 outward form, and, above all, their curious soft plumage. The Honey- 



all point to their affinities with the Kites. There are Kites.— Genus 

 three species of Honey-Kite, Pernis apivorus of Europe, I'crnis. 



P. ptUoiwrhynchus of Tropical Asia, and P. celebensis of 

 Celebes. 



The Falcons diflFer from the Kites, which immediately precede them, and 

 from the other Birds of Prey in having a toothed or notched bill. In some 

 of the genera there is a distinct double tooth, as in the 

 Cuckoo-Falcons (Bazn). These are very interesting The True 



Hawks on account of their geographical distribution. Falcons.— Sub- 

 They are all birds of the forest districts, one species being family Fahvmnce. 

 found in West Africa, another in Natal, a third in 

 Madagascar, and thence eastwards the species are distributed through the 

 Indian Region and the Moluccas to the Bismarck Archipelago and North- 



