<; 
KITE. 
well, though they resolutely refused to swallow a morsel unless placed in their mouths and forced half down 
their throats. 
“ July 3rd. On again visiting the glen, I found the trap in the nest untouched; neither had any food 
been brought. 
“We observed a single Kite hovering over an open moor a few miles distant; but although the keepers 
while on their rounds had several times passed within sight of the nest, they had noticed no bird in that 
locality.” 
« 1877, May 19th. Having sent a man the previous day to Clcndhu, in order to learn if the Kites were 
breeding this season in their old quarters, T to-day received word that a pair had nested in a Scotch fir marked 
to be cut down. Among the rubbish in the nest, which contained three eggs, were the usual amount of old 
rags and, in addition, a perfectly new pair of lady’s cuffs. I heard, however, of another pair or two of birds 
which had been observed about twenty miles further up the glen. 
“ 21st. Reached the lodge early in the afternoon, and shortly after set out through the forest to search 
for the nest. 
“ On starting we were able to drive along a rough track, within about a mile and a half of the spot where 
the birds had been usually seen. After leaving the trap, the ground was by no means easy travelling, being 
covered with long coarse heather, interspersed with stunted bushes of juniper and bog-myrtle, and cut here 
and there with small watercourses leading towards a stretch of marshy pools, that could be plainly seen through 
the trees, at the distance of a mile or so to the north. The timber, which grew in small patches, three or four 
or, possibly, half a dozen trees together, and occasionally an open space for a hundred yards or more, consisted 
of large Scotch firs, and here arid there a birch. Owing to the open nature of the wood, it would be impossible 
for the Kite to get on wing without being observed; consequently we were able to examine the ground 
thoroughly without taking any very great amount of time for the work. We had not proceeded above a quarter 
of a mile from where our search commenced, when I caught sight of an old bird just leaving the upper part of 
a large thick fir. Before we could reach the spot, which was not above the distance of a couple of hundred 
yards, the pair of Kites were circling high in the air, right above our heads. As soon as we stopped below the 
nest, which was among the topmost branches of the tree, both birds sailed right out of sight. Long spreading 
limbs, almost down to the ground, rendered the work of climbing easy; and on mounting to the nest, it was 
found to contain one young bird just hatched and two eggs. Thinking that the female would be likely to return 
as soon as possible, the nestling being so helpless, we collected a few rough branches, and quickly constructed a 
shelter against the stem of a large fallen tree, about five and thirty or forty yards distant. Then directing the 
men to take the most open track, I sent them back over the brow of the hill to wait where the machine bad 
been left. 
“ It was just 7 p.m. when I took up my station, and I had not long lost sight of the keepers when I 
observed the two Kites coming from the direction in which they had disappeared. 
“Having been built into my place of concealment almost too securely, I could only command a view 
towards the tree containing the nest ; occasionally, however, I caught a glimpse of one or other of the birds 
soaring round and round at a considerable height above the wood. At last one settled on the far side of the 
tree ; here it remained for some time, turning its head in every direction, and apparently unwilling to approach 
the nest too closely. I was just on the point of crawling from my shelter, in order to obtain a better chance 
of a shot, when the bird changed its position, exposing the whole of its breast; at this I immediately fired, 
and down it fell, as if perfectly dead, to the foot of the tree. Just before I reached the spot, however, it rose 
again, and flapped slowly away, requiring another barrel before it was secured. In the course of a few minutes 
the keepers appeared on the scene ; and as the sun was now low, we set a trap in the nest, as I thought it 
possible that the male bird might not come in till after dusk. The men then returned to their former station, 
