THE KITE. 591 



game, under the very nose of sportsmen or gamekeepers. It will 

 even attack and devour fowls and chickens in the poultry-yard, and 

 so absorbed does it become in the enjoyment of its feast that a person 

 may not unfrequently get sufficiently near to capture it. In the plains 

 where game is abundant, Sparrow-hawks are very destructive, and, 

 consequently, are seldom spared when within gunshot. 



In captivity it will become gentle and tame. Dr. Franklin men- 

 tions an instance of one of these birds, belonging to a friend of his, 

 which lived with two pigeons. This bird had succeeded in gaining the 

 affection of all who knew it, and was, it is said, as playful as a kitten. 



Africa possesses two species of Sparrow-hawk : the Dwarf Sparrow- 

 hawk (A. minullus), which does not exceed the Blackbird in size. 

 As intrepid, although not so strong, as its European brother, it often 

 ventures to attack Kites and Buzzards, and, by its agility, harasses 

 them with impunity. The Chanting Falcon {Metier ax mtisicus), which 

 is about the size of the Goshawk, sings in the vicinity of the female 

 during the season of incubation. It is the only musician among birds 

 of the Rapacious order, and therefore has a claim to honourable 

 mention. 



Both the Goshawks and the Sparrow-hawks were employed in 

 hawking in days of old, but their relative value was much inferior to 

 that of the Falcon. 



The birds which belong to the Kite genus (Milvus) are charac- 

 terised as follows : — Beak curved from the base, and not toothed ; 

 tarsi short, slender, and feathered on the upper part ; wings very 

 long ; tail long, and more or less forked ; colour generally brown. 

 Several species are known, but their characteristics are identical. 



The Common Kite (Milvus regalis, Fig. 277), thus named on account 

 of affording amusement for princes, who hunted it with the falcon, and 

 even the sparrow r -hawk, measures two feet in height, the spread of its 

 wings being not less than five feet. Of all the Falcon tribe this bird 

 is gifted with the most graceful, rapid, and sustained powers of flight. 

 It is so incessantly on the wing, that it appears scarcely to require 

 rest. Love for soaring through space must be the cause of this 

 activity, as it never pursues its prey, but descends upon it with in- 

 credible velocity from the prodigious heights at which it may be 

 hovering, and, seizing it in its claws, bears it to some adjacent tree to 

 be devoured. Its food consists of leverets, moles, rats, field-mice, 

 reptiles, and fish — the latter it catches on the surface of the water. 

 It builds its nest on lofty trees, rarely on rocks. It is a constant 

 resident in some parts of France, and is met with in nearly all 

 countries of Europe. 



