KITE. 
MILVUS REGALIS. 
Tiie citizens of London would at the present day open their eyes with amazement to behold a Kite constructing 
its cumbersome nest among the branches of their grimy trees, or soaring over the river-banks in quest ol 
prey; yet, if we are to put faith in old records, such sights must have been of common occurrence in days 
gone by. 
It is seldom now that a Kite is observed in the south, though forty or fifty years ago they appear to have 
been numerous. The only one that ever came under my own observation in England was while shooting in 
the neighbourhood of Brighton during the autumn of 1878 ; I then noticed one passing west at a considerable 
elevation. On mentioning the fact to the farmer on whose land I was, he told me that when lie was a young 
man, over sixty years previously, he had known both Kites and Buzzards plentiful in a large wood near 
Canterbury. He stated he had frequently robbed the nests of the Kites, and that it was always considered the 
safest plan to mount first higher up the tree, so as to get a good view of the interior, as the birds were in 
the habit of carrying snakes and vipers to feed their young; these reptiles having at times sufficient strength 
left to hiss and strike if touched, rendered it necessary to take care when making an inspection. 
Some works I have consulted give “reptiles and carrion” as forming part of the diet of these birds; but 
I must say, from my own experience, that the Kites of the present day appear to be decidedly more refined in 
their tastes. In some of their nests I have found a few squirrels and rabbits, numbers of Grouse and Peewits, 
and, on several occasions, the young of Curlew, Duck, and Pigeons. Grouse seem to be their favourite food. 
The last nest I had a chance of observing I passed several times, and on every occasion the young birds had a 
fresli-killcd Grouse lying beside them. 
The old birds usually have some particular spot to which they carry their prey to partially pluck and 
break up before taking to the young. Sometimes it is the stump of a tree, a large moss-covered stone, or a 
bare mound of earth; at other times, if the immediate neighbourhood of the nest is covered with lorn- and 
coarse undergrowth, they prepare the food on the branches of a tree. Once, while passing a nest belonging to 
this species, an old forester pointed out one of these spots (in this instance a clear space among long tufts 
of heather and dead and rotten branches) where he had recently trapped an old bird. He had only needed 
some feathers for flies; and having plundered his captive of all lie required, the poor wretch was released a 
thinner clad but possibly a wiser Kite, as I judged by the wide berth he gave us while we remained in his 
neighbourhood. In addition to the place where they prepare the food for the young (which I have heard 
keepers style “the Kite's dressing-table”). I believe these birds, like Grey Crows, occasionally have some snot 
to which they carry their prey to consume at their leisure. I once counted the remains of over thirty Grouse 
under the branches of a large fir; some were only bleached and weatherbeaten skeletons, and probably had 
laid for many months This stock could hardly have been brought together for the benefit of the youn“ as 
the nest of the pan of birds frequenting the tree was within the distance of one hundred yards, and contained, 
