THE KITE 183 
But, in order to fully appreciate the flying prowess 
of the kite, it is necessary to have been the victim of 
his larceny. You are perhaps eating a solitary break- 
fast, in the open, and your thoughts are far away. 
Suddenly you become aware of a presence, and a 
second later you behold a kite elegantly sailing away, 
carrying in its claws the mutton chop you were about 
to eat! I have seen a kite swoop down, snatch away 
a bone from between a dog’s paws, and be out of 
reach before the dog had realized what had happened. 
Mr. Jesse, in his account of the birds of Lucknow, 
writes: “On one occasion my khansama was walking 
across the compound with a bone on a plate when 
down swooped a kite and seized the bone, which, how- 
ever, it dropped, knocking off the man’s turban.” On 
another occasion a kite carried off a tame squirrel from 
the shelter of its master’s arms. 
Well has Lockwood Kipling written of the athletic 
bird: “ The kite is a notorious thief; no other creature 
is so splendidly equipped for larceny, for no other can 
snatch so unerringly and escape so securely.” “When 
the kite builds look to lesser linen,” says Autolycus. 
In addition to possessing marvellous powers of flight 
and accurate steering, the kite is able to use its claws 
as hands. It does not seize its food with its beak, as 
most birds do; it snatches it away with its claws, and, 
unless the stolen object is too large to be swallowed 
entire, transfers it to its mouth during flight. 
It is interesting to compare the methods of the kite 
with those of its rival thief, the crow. When the latter 
bird espies something edible, he looks all round him 
