76 THE MISSISSIPPI KITE. 



Hawk, dashing at the former, and giving them chase, as if in play, until these 

 cowardly scavengers sweep downwards, abandoning this to them disagreeable 

 sport to the Hawks, who now continue to gambol undisturbed. When in 

 pursuit of a large insect or a small reptile, it turns its body sidewise, throws 

 out its legs, expands its talons, and generally seizes its prey in an instant. 

 It feeds while on wing, apparently with as much ease and comfort, as when 

 alighted on the branch of a tall tree. It never alights on the earth; at least 

 I have never seen it do so, except when wounded, and then it appears 

 extremely awkward. It never attacks birds or quadrupeds of any kind, 

 with the view of destroying them for food, although it will chase a fox to a 

 considerable distance, screaming loudly all the while, and soon forces a Crow 

 to retreat to the woods. 



The nest of this species is always placed in the upper branches of the 

 tallest trees. I thought it gave the preference to those tall and splendid 

 magnolias and white oaks, which adorn our Southern States. The nest 

 resembles that of the dilapidated tenement of the Common American Crow, 

 and is formed of sticks slightly put together, along with branches of Spanish 

 moss ( Usnea), pieces of vine bark, and dried leaves. The eggs are two or 

 three, almost globular, of a light greenish tint, blotched thickly over with 

 deep chocolate-brown and black. Only one brood is raised in the season, 

 and I think the female sits more than half the time necessary for incubation. 

 The young I also think obtain nearly the full plumage of the old bird before 

 they depart from us, as I have examined these birds early in August, when 

 the migration was already begun, without observing much difference in their 

 general colour, except only in the want of firmness in the tint of the young 

 ones. 



Once, early in the month of Ma} T , I found a nest of this bird placed on a 

 fine tall white oak near a creek, and observed that the female was sitting 

 with unceasing assiduity. The male I saw bring her food frequently. Not 

 being able to ascend the tree, I hired a Negro, who had been a sailor for 

 some years, to climb it and bring down the eggs or young. This he did by 

 first mounting another tree, the branches of which crossed the lower ones of 

 the oak. No sooner had he reached the trunk of the tree on which the nest 

 was placed, than the male was seen hovering about and over it in evident 

 displeasure, screaming and sweeping towards the intruder the higher he 

 advanced. When he attained the branch on which the nest was, the female 

 left her charge, and the pair, infuriated at his daring, flew with such velocity, 

 and passed so close to him, that I expected every moment to see him struck 

 by them. The black tar, however, proceeded quietly, reached the nest, and 

 took out the eggs, apprising me that there were three. I requested him to 

 bring them down with care, and to throw off the nest, which he did. The 



