NESTING OF THE BLACK KITE IN VERONA. 243 



Pavia ; Zanni and Bettoni record it for Brescia ; Paglia records it 

 for Mantovano ; Ferragni for Cremona; Carlini does not record it 

 for Valtellina ; Pavesi excludes it from the region of Tessin, but 

 Riva* had previously recorded a single specimen. Authors 

 agree in saying that it is rare in these places, except Ferragni, f 

 who says that in the Province of Cremona it is scarce, but passes 

 regularly in May. 



Venetian Territory. — Count Ninnij says : — " It lives in the 

 wood of Cansiglio, but it is not certain that it nests there. It 

 has nested in the wood of the Marquis of Canossa at Grezzan 

 (Perini)." Naccari does not record the Black Kite from Venetian 

 territory, and Contarini refers to it as a rare bird. Ninni had a 

 nestling, but he calls it an accidental visitor, and very rare. A 

 specimen from the Province of Treviso, caught at the mouth of 

 the Sile, is preserved in Scarpa's collection. I have mentioned a 

 specimen killed at Vigodarzere on May 25th, 1885. We do not 

 find it mentioned among the birds of the Province of Belluno 

 (Doglioni), nor among those of Friuli (Vallon, Pirona) ; but 

 recently my friend Professor Tellini has included this species 

 among those which are probably caught in the aforesaid region, 

 but which cannot yet be declared as such for certain. It is not 

 noticed among the birds of Bassano (Baseggio), nor among those 

 of the Province of Rodigino (Dal Fiume). We have no precise 

 information for the Province of Vicenza. As for Verona, Perini, § 

 an author who cannot always be relied upon, wrote, in 1858, that, 

 during a period of fifteen years, he had only succeeded in 

 observing two examples of the Black Kite. " We are assured, 

 however," he adds, " by the Marquis Bonaventura, of Canossa, 

 that this Kite breeds in his wood at Grezzan, where it lays from 

 three to four eggs of a yellowish white colour, with obscure spots 

 very close to one another." In his edition of 1874 the same 

 author remarks : " It is rare in our Province ; its nest has, how- 

 ever, been found sometimes," without naming a locality. De 

 Betta says it is rare, and, relying simply on Perini, states that it 

 has bred in Canossa's wood. I do not find the Black Kite 



* Orn. Ticinese, p. 63 (1865). 



f In Giglioli, Avif. Ital. vol. i. p. 400 (1889). 



| Cat. Ucc. del Veneto, in Comment, ecc. i. p. 9 (1868). 



§ Uccelli Veronesi, p. 15 (1858). 



r2 



