248 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



The birds, however, that arrive in March may be considered 

 as the vanguard, and they come singly, while the main body 

 arrive in April. The arrivals and departures are said to coincide 

 with those of the Martin ; the dates of which, for the Province 

 of Verona, would run from April 12th to May 1st, and from 

 July 25th to September 10th. Some Martins are, however, 

 found also in October, while Black Kites have never been ob- 

 served at Grezzano at that epoch. They arrive separately, and 

 not in flocks, a fact which has already been stated by Ferragni in 

 treating of the Province of Cremona, and by Ruggeri and Pistone 

 in writing of that of Messina. Irby in Spain, Favier in Morocco, 

 and Count Alleon at Constantinople have observed that Black 

 Kites migrate in numerous troops. As soon as they arrive, they 

 set about constructing their nests, which they build new every 

 year. They have never been known to take possession of those 

 of Herons or Crows, which are so abundant in those regions, and 

 with these birds they seem to live in peace. Their nest is ready 

 about the 10th of May, and they take twenty days to build it. 

 They generally breed only in the wood ; but nests have also been 

 found in old and lofty trees in the country round about. They 

 prefer the poplar, and build more rarely in the oak. They 

 choose tall trees that reach a height of from thirty to forty 

 metres, and build their nests on the fork of the thickest branches, 

 perhaps for safety, so that the wind may not blow them down 

 from such a height. They are large and easily noticed from the 

 ground, and the bird hatches without being seen ; but sometimes 

 the nests are smaller, and then the head and tail of the sitting 

 bird peep out. But this only occurs when they are young ; in 

 the second year of their age they make it larger. Goebel also 

 says that the nest is very small, and that very often the head and 

 tail of the sitting bird can be seen on every side of the nest. The 

 height of the nest from the ground varies from about twenty-five to 

 thirty metres ; it is seldom lower. It consists of stout twigs 

 strongly interlaced, ill-connected, but intertwined, and secured to 

 the branch, from which the nest stands out like a bundle of wood. 

 In the interior you see a hard layer formed with pieces of paper, 

 linen rags which the Kite gathers here and there about the houses 

 and dunghills ; mud, and the dry dung of oxen, horses, &c, are 

 added to unite the rags strongly together. This nest-bottom 



