BIRDS OF PREY 



(328) Elanus leucurus 



[I'ieill.) (Lat., a kite; Gr., white-tailed). 

 WHITE-TAILED KITE. Plum- 

 age as figured by the bird on the 

 left ; head, under parts and tail 

 white; back pearl-gray; primaries 

 and shoulders black. Legs and cere 

 yellow. L., 16.00; Ex., 40.00; W., 

 12.50; T., 7.50; Tar., 1.30. Nest 

 — Of sticks and weeds at high ele- 

 vations; three or four white eggs, 

 profusely blotched with brown, 1.65 



XI.3S- 



Range — Breeds along the South 

 .\tlantic and Gulf coasts. 

 (329) Ictinia mississippiensis 



(Wilson). 



JIISSISSIPPI KITE. Plumage 

 lead-gray, with blackish wings and 

 tail. L., 14.00. 



Range — Breeds from S. Car., Ind. 

 and la. south to Tex. and Fla. 



ern border, but extending casually to Virginia and up the 

 Mississippi Valley to Minnesota. They are exceedingly 

 handsome birds and, as would be suspected from their form, 

 in aerial manoeuvres, they are excelled by no bird that flies. 



Their food consists chiefly of small reptiles, frogs and 

 various insects. They are very often seen flying with long, 

 slender snakes dangling from their rather weak talons. 

 They are fond of dragon flies, which they catch easily despite 

 their speed and erratic flight. 



UTilTE-TAILED KITES are found from our southern 

 border south to Argentine Republic. Their flight, while 

 perhaps not as swift as that of the preceding species, is very 

 gracefully performed. They may frequently be seen stoop- 

 ing over the meadows, at heights of fifty or more feet; sud- 

 denly one will pause on quivering wings, like the hover of a 

 Kingfisher, and then dash to earth and secure a mouse or 

 reptile that his keen eyes have discovered in the grass. The 

 nests of this species are but little more accessible than those 

 of the last, but they average to be considerably lower. 



