198 NE8TS AND EGOS OF 



■'" This beautiful species, noted for its graceful and elegant tiiglit, is an abundant 

 summer resident of the Southern United States as far north as Virginia, occasionally 

 straying to the Middle States, and regularly far up the Mississippi Valley. Skins of 

 this Kite are in my collection which were taken in Ohio, August 22, 1878, and July 

 10, 1883. Previous to these records it has not been heard of in the State since 1858. 

 The favorite resorts of this hird are bottom woodlands near prairies or fields. Us 

 food consists of small reptiles and insects; it is particularly fond of small snakes and 

 lizards, grasshoppers, crickets, and various beetles. The nest of this Kite is built at 

 the extremity of small branches near the tops of the tallest trees. The one repre- 

 sented in our illustration is taken from a sketch made on the spot by Mr. J. A. 

 SiDgley, of Giddings, Lee county, Texas. This nest, as represented, is placed in the 

 top branches of a pecan tree; it is composed of sticks and pieces of green moss, 

 some of the moss hanging over the sides, giving it a beautiful appearance when 

 seen from the ground. Outwardly it measures eighteen inches in diameter; depth 

 twelve inches. Two eggs from this nest measure 1.77x1.43, 1.81x1.45. In other 

 localities the materials for the nest differ, no moss being used. Mr. Singley states 

 that the birds are very vicious while nesting; he has seen them attack and drive off 

 Owls, Turkey Buzzards, Florida Redshouldered Hawk, Butco Uiituliis allcni. Black 

 Vultures and Crows. On April 25, 1SS5, while his collector, Mr. Theodore Thassler, 

 was climbing to the nest represented in the engraving, he was almost knocked out 

 of the tree by the birds; and before he could secure the eggs was compelled to kill 

 the most pugnacious one, which proved to be the male. Unlike the White-tailed 

 Kite, when the nest is disturbed, the birds will desert it. The eggs of this species are 

 from two to four in number, occasionally but one, and rarely three or four. This is 

 the statement by the late Maj. Charles E. Eendire in his matchless work, "Life 

 Histories of North American Birds." According to his measurements of twenty 

 specimens from diflEerent parts of the United States the average size is 1.85x1.46 

 inches. Mr. Singley took seven sets in the season of 1887, and was fortunate enough 

 to find one containing three eggs, and a nest with three young. The color of the 

 eggs is white, greenish or yellowish-white, spotted and blotched with brown and 

 umber of varying shades-; some are sparingly marked with specks of dark brown, 

 in others the spots are clustered about the large end. The markings are often large 

 and of a rich chestnut and mahogany color. During a trip to Texas, in 1888, Mr. 

 G. B. Benners and Mr. Thos. Gillin collected six sets of eggs of this bird in that 

 State. One set contained three eggs, another only one, while the other four nests 

 had two eggs each. Under date of August 2d, 1895, Mr. Singley writes me that the 

 Swallow-tailed Kite is almost exterminated here (Lee county) "and I doubt if there 

 were two sets of eggs taken in Texas this season." They must now be considered 

 expensive eggs to procure. Two sets of two eggs each collected by Mr. Singley 

 measure 1.87x1.50, 1.78x1.49; the second 2.03x1.40, 1.90x1.50 respectively. These are 

 in Mr. C. W. Crandall's collection, Woodside, New York. 



328. WHITE-TAILED KITE. Elailus leucurus (Vieill.) Geog. Dist.— South- 

 ern portion of the United States, from South Carolina, Southern Illinois, and Cali- 

 fornia, southward into South America. 



>\ The late Maj. Bendire states in his "Life Histories of North American Birds" 

 that the breeding range of this species so far as actually known by the taking of their 

 nests and eggs, seems to be confined to South Carolina (where Mr. Ward, Audubon's 

 assistant, found it nesting on the Santee River early in March), Florida, the Indian 



Territory, Texas and the middle portions -of California. The Black-shouldered or 



