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Middendorff saw it near Amginskaja Sloboda in about 61° X. lat., and in the Stanowoi 

 Mountains, but lost sight of it on the coast, and he did not obtain any specimens. Von Schrenck 

 records it as having been met with throughout the Amoor country to the mouth of the Auioor 

 River. He obtained one on the Kamr River, near the Nikolaieffsk Post, and procured eggs at 

 the mouth of the Amoor on the 6th (18th) May. Maack records it as being found on the 

 29th April at Jakutsk, and he obtained a specimen at Wilni in 64° N. lat. According to Radde, 

 at Irkutsk it nests every year on high pines and birches in the gardens which are situated on 

 the Uschakofka, and breeds in company with Crows ; he likewise found it common in the lonely 

 forests bordering Lake Baikal, and equally so in the bare elevated steppes of Dauria, and he 

 observes that it does not appear to occur at a higher altitude than 5000 feet. It arrived late in 

 March and left again in September. He obtained its eggs near the Tarei-nor in May. 



Godlewski (Tacz. Orn. Sib. Orient, p. 48) states that he " found it throughout the Govern- 

 ment of Irkutsk, in Dauria, on the Amoor, in the Ussuri country, and on the coast of the Sea of 

 Japan, everywhere very common. On the spring and autumn migration parties of more than 

 ten individuals may be seen perched on a tree or hedge, and one day I killed three at a shot. 

 On passage it is, as a rule, less shy, but ordinarily when on the wing it will not approach within 

 gunshot. It is, however, partial to the society of man, and will catch pieces of meat when 

 thrown to it in the air, but when not thrown very high it will dart down and immediately return 

 to a more convenient altitude. In 1867 they appeared in Darasun on the 3rd April." 



It ranges also far south, and has been recorded by Mr. A. H. Everett (Ibis, 1890, p. 465) 

 from Labuan Island, Borneo ; but Mr. Whitehead does not appear to have met with it in 

 Northern Borneo. 



In its habits this Kite is exceedingly fearless and tame when found in the vicinity of human 

 habitations, but, according to Mr. Oates, it is shy in other localities, keeping to the jungles. In 

 the towns and villages it acts, like Milvus govinda, as a scavenger and devours all sorts of refuse. 

 Col. Prjevalski speaks of it as being more daring than the European species, and puts in an 

 appearance wherever a tent is erected, stealing anything that it can get hold of. " On one 

 occasion," he says, " in swooping down on a piece of meat, it touched with its wings the man's 

 head who was sitting close by it ; and when an antelope or some other animal was killed, the 

 flesh of which was usually hung up for drying in the sun, we could only save it from the Kites 

 by watching with a gun. Once, on a similar occasion, I killed nine specimens in succession; but 

 the remaining birds still kept flying above the meat, trying to steal a piece lying a little out of 

 the way. In the case of an animal left (after being killed) on the steppes, the Kites and Ravens 

 were the first birds to assemble ; and they usually thus indicated to the others where the carcass 

 was lying." 



According to Mr. Godlewski, " this Kite feeds on dead fish, carrion, and different remains of 

 food which have been thrown on the rubbish-heaps, and puts in an appearance regularly, almost 

 taking the refuse from the hands of those who throw it out, whilst on the wing without touching 

 the ground. One day during the haymaking-season I was witness to the following : a peasant 

 was cutting up a sheep destined for the dinner of his companions, and had cut open the animal 

 and put beside him the intestines, when a Kite unexpectedly slipped down, snapped up a 

 considerable portion, and made his escape with it." 



Mr. Styan remarks (/. c.) that these Kites have certain favourite roosting-places, where they 



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