378 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



bird, and not, as some suppose, for the Buzzard, a species which 

 shuns the haunts of man, and feeds chiefly upon Moles and other 

 small mammals. Hence it is that the mewing cry of the Buz- 

 zard may still often be heard in our county, but the Kite has 

 gone for ever. 



The task of trying to trace the former abundance of the Kite 

 in Somerset is a somewhat melancholy one. We have interesting 

 evidence that the species inhabited these regions some nineteen 

 hundred years ago, as its bones have been identified among 

 those of other birds unearthed from the lake -dwelling near 

 Glastonbury, which was discovered in 1892. To come to more 

 recent times, it is probable that this species haunted the fringes 

 of the meres on the central level of Somerset until they were 

 drained about a century ago. Their nests would be placed among 

 the tall trees of the neighbouring forests, while the goslings and 

 poultry of the farmers, or the young of the numerous water- 

 fowl, would supply them with many a meal. 



It is impossible to fix exactly the date when the Kite became 

 a rare bird in Somerset, though it is probable that the process of 

 extinction when once begun was rapid. As the trees disappeared 

 from some of the ancient forests, such as Mendip, the birds 

 would have to shift their quarters ; but it appears that at the 

 close of the seventeenth century the species was quite numerous 

 in West Somerset, on the skirts of Exmoor. 



From the churchwardens' accounts for the parish of Luc- 

 combe, we learn that payment was made for the destruction of 

 five Kites in 1692, and again for sixteen Kites in 1701, at the 

 rate of twopence apiece. When we read in the same accounts 

 that threepence apiece was paid for Hedgehogs, it is evident that 

 the Kite could have been by no means a rare bird in those days. 

 Again, in the churchwardens' accounts for Porlock, it is stated 

 that in the year 1738 nine Kites were paid for at the rate of 

 twopence apiece, while in 1754, 10s. 4d. was paid for sixty-two 

 Hedgehogs ; Foxes, Martens, and Badgers being paid for at the 

 rate of Is. each. It is probable that many other interesting 

 scraps of information about the Kites might be gleaned from 

 similar parish accounts in other parts of the county. 



If we look at the history of the bird in neighbouring counties, 

 we find that about 1825 it was not uncommon in the woodland 



