184 BOMBAY DUCKS 
to see if the coast is clear; then he hops or sidles up 
to the desired object, and, having again taken a look 
round, seizes the food with his beak. A kite, on the 
other hand, directly he catches sight of anything 
edible, swoops down and snatches it with his claws. 
If a crow and a kite “spot” a piece of meat simul- 
taneously, the kite will have carried it off before the 
crow has finished wondering whether he can safely 
approach the object. 
I have sometimes known a kite miss the object at 
which it was aiming. But this was invariably due to 
nervousness; the kite does not quite like taking any- 
thing from the hand of that mysterious creature, man. 
It feels that this is a risky operation, and resorts to it 
only when very hard put to it to obtain food. 
Kites and crows live side by side, feed upon the same 
food, and obtain it in similar ways, thus it is but 
natural that the two species should not be on very good 
terms with one another. The crow is afraid of the kite. 
No crow will admit this, but it is nevertheless true. 
Often and often have I seen a party of crows squabbling 
over a piece of food; suddenly the fighting ceases, the 
crows look scared, and a kite swoops down and carries 
off, in its talons, the bone of contention, and thus acts 
the part of the peacemaker. Fortunately for the crows, 
the kite is itself not over-valorous, nor are its intellectual 
powers great. 
The poet Spenser was not far from the mark when 
he spoke of “the foolish kite.” In spite of its superior 
size, strength, and powers of flight, the kite is not infre- 
quently “scored off” by the crow. 
