8622 Notices of New Books. 



by different observers ; — vide Blyth, Sykes, Adams and Burgess. At 

 our sea-ports many kites find their daily sustenance among the ship- 

 ping, perching freely on the rigging, and, in company with the 

 Brahminy kite, which rarely enters towns, snatching scraps of refuse 

 from the surface of the water. Away from the haunts of man, some 

 seek their reptile or insect food over the fields and hedgerows, or, 

 with the Brahminy kites, hunt the edges of tanks, rivers and marshes 

 for frogs, crabs and fish. The flight of the Indian kite is bold, easy 

 and graceful, when once mounted aloft, though somewhat heavy on 

 first taking wing ; and it soars slowly about, in greater or less num- 

 bers, in large circles. When in pursuit of another kite it is capable 

 of considerable speed, and shows great dexterity in suddenly avoiding 

 any obstacle and changing its course ; in this its long tail is of course 

 a great help. Occasionally one may be seen dropping-down almost 

 perpendicularly from the top of a house, on a piece of offal in a nar- 

 row street, but in general it reaches the ground from a height by a 

 series of oblique plunges. Now and then one will seize a chicken, or 

 wounded bird of any kind ; and Mr. Blyth mentions that he once 

 knew one to kill a full-grown hen. Mr. Phillips says it is ' a very 

 cowardly bird ; for though it will carry off parrots and chickens, it 

 is yet afraid of the crows and sparrowhawks. It will allow crows to 

 pull to pieces a bit of meat before it, which it is evidently desirous to 

 obtain.' This hardly accords with my observation; for though it is 

 generally on sufficiently good terms with the crows in company with 

 it on a heap of garbage, yet I have frequently seen it pursue a crow, 

 and force it to relinquish some coveted morsel. Blyth, too, mentions 

 that he had been told, on good authority, that a kite will sometimes 

 seize a crow. The crows, however, often tease a kite, apparently 

 without any object but that of a little amusement to themselves. The 

 food of the kite is usually devoured on the wing, or, if too large, 

 carried to the nearest house or tree. Mr. Blyth notices their collecting 

 in numbers without any apparent object, especially towards evening. 

 This I have frequently observed at all large stations, where the whole 

 kites of the neighbourhood, before retiring to roost, appear to hold con- 

 clave. They are said to leave Calcutta almost entirely for three or four 

 months during the rains. I have not noticed this at other places. As 

 remarked by Buchanan Hamilton, they may often be seen seated 

 on the entablatures of buildings, with their breast to the wall, and 

 wings spread out, exactly as represented in Egyptian monuments. 

 The kite breeds from January to April, beginning to couple about 

 Christmas; and great is the squealing going on at this time morefelino. 



