SWALLOW-TAILED KITE. 71 



ciate together in flocks, and while on their migratory passages 

 are seen travelling in large companies. 



The loftiest trees are selected by this species for their 

 place of incubation, in low and marshy situations. The nest 

 is formed of sticks and coarse grass, and lined with warm 

 materials. The young, in their nestling state before the 

 appearance of their feathers, are covered with down of a yel- 

 lowish colour : the plumage of the first year resembles that 

 of the adult, but, as is usually the case in young birds, it 

 wants the gloss and changing tints that play upon the plum- 

 age of the older ones. 



The eggs are said to be greenish white, marked irregularly 

 at the larger end with blotches of dark brown. 



The length of the Swallow-tailed Kite is about twenty- 

 four inches ; the wing from the carpus to the tip is sixteen 

 inches, and the tail extends about three inches beyond the 

 closed wings. The toes are entirely divided ; the middle toe 

 and claw measure about one inch and five lines, the hind toe 

 and claw about one inch two lines, of which half is occupied 

 by the claw. 



The beak measures from the forehead to the tip one inch 

 and one line in diameter, about two lines more in the arc ; 

 it is hooked and drawn to a fine point. The lower line of 

 the beak, from behind the tip to the gape, is rather undu- 

 lating than toothed ; the nostril is oval, and the cere covered 

 with radiating hairs. The legs are feathered half-way clown 

 the tarsus, the naked parts reticulated. The anterior joints 

 of the toes are scutellated. The quill-feathers are long and 

 narrow ; the third a little exceeds the second in length, 

 and is the longest in the wing. 



The tail consists of twelve feathers, and is much graduated. 

 The head and back of the neck, as far as the junction of the 

 wings with the body, are pure white, as well as the whole 

 under parts, from the chin to the under coverts of the tail 



