Class II. KITE. 231 



ounces : the length twenty-seven inches : the 

 breadth five feet one inch. The bill is two 

 inches long, and very much hooked at the end : 

 the cere yellow : the irides of a straw-color. 

 The head and chin are of a light grey, in some, 

 white, marked with oblong streaks of black : the 

 neck and breast are of a tawny red, but the 

 middle of the feathers black. On the belly and 

 thighs, the spots are fewer, and under the tail 

 they almost vanish. The upper part of the 

 back is brown, the middle covered with very 

 soft white down. The five first quil feathers 

 are black ; the inner webs of the others dusky 

 barred with black, and the lower edges white. 

 The coverts of the wings are varied with tawny 

 black and white : the tail is forked, and of a 

 tawny red : the outmost feather on each side of 

 a darker hue than the rest ; and marked with a 

 few obscure dusky spots : the thighs are covered 

 with very long feathers : the legs are yellow 

 and strong. 



These birds differ in their colors. We have 

 seen a beautiful variety shot in Lincolnshire that 

 was entirely of a tawny color. 



" Kites destroy great numbers of moles, 

 which frequently come to the surface of pasture 

 lands in search of caterpillars and insects. An 

 instance is on record of twenty two moles being 



