KITE. 
11 
course under the hills that I had on several occasions seen taken fly these birds while passing up and 
d0W ‘ mh g ’ e This morning the captive was decidedly more tractable; during the day he consumed the meat 
off three Pigeons. The beak was very dark horn-colour, almost black; cere king s yellow ; 
pale orange-chrome ; eye pale lavender tint, which turned a deepci »,icy w it i a 
“ July 11th. The young Kite had now reached the stage in which I wished to have him preserved A 
signs of down had disappeared and he was perfectly full-fledged, although the tail had not attained above half 
the length of an adult and showed hardly any signs of the fork, lie was getting by degrees more tame and 
sociable than when we first obtained him ; but at times he was terribly sulky, aud no description of food wo 
could provide him with would be to Ms liking. He was supplied, as a rule, with the flesh of Pigeons an 
young rabbits. When, however, these dainties were not procurable, he was obliged to put up with raw beef 
or mutton. This change of diet he evidently looked upon as an insult, and it required considerable care 
to induce him to retain his meals. As it did not seem that he would ever become perfectly reconciled 
to confinement, I had much less reluctance to sign his death-warrant than that of a pair of young Ospreys 
the previous week. After I had taken his portrait in several different positions, lie was executed this 
morning and forwarded to the south for preservation. 
“ Considering the pains that had been taken to rear this troublesome customer, the people of the inn we 
were stopping at were greatly surprised at his death. ‘ What!’ exclaimed one ol the attendants, ‘ is the puir 
wee bcastie to be killed the noo, and twelve and sax pence paid for his meat ! A\ ell ! well ! 
“ Having quite accidentally heard of another Kite’s nest in a different locality, we left our present quarters, 
and drove as near the wood as the state of the road would allow us. On this occasion the Kites had taken up 
their residence in an extensive fir-wood, covering a steep hill-side sloping down to a large loch. \\ liile 
approaching the breeding-place we proceeded with great caution, in case the old birds might be near at hand. 
The nest was placed about five and twenty feet from the ground, near the top oi a small Scotch fir. The men 
had stated there was hut one young bird ; we could, however, plainly make out a pair when we examined the 
nest through the glasses, and both sat perfectly quiet when we drew near the spot and stood on a rocky knoll, 
from which we could look right down upon them. 
“ There were apparently no signs of the old birds, so we retired a few hundred yards in order to avail 
ourselves of the shade of the large trees by the loch-side and give time for them to return with prey for the 
young, as, while examining the nest, we had been unable to detect any food. After waiting about an hour I 
returned towards the nest, and, while cautiously descending the steep brae that overlooked the tree, I noticed 
that one of the birds had shifted its position ; and as it now sat with its forked tail in full view, I discovered 
that instead of two young ones, the old female had been all the time on the nest. While searching for an 
opening among the branches for the best chance of a shot at her as she flew off, my foot slipped on the sloping 
ground, which the dry weather and the fallen spines of the firs had rendered like glass, and down I came, 
fiat on my hack, luckily just missing by less than an inch a frightfully broken and jagged stump of a dead 
tree. Before I could scramble up, being considerably shaken, but nevertheless exceedingly thankful when I 
discovered my narrow escape, the old bird, probably startled by the fall, left the nest, and, gliding rapidly 
below the branches of the trees, was out of sight in a moment. Before many minutes had elapsed, both male 
and female were sailing round and round at a great height over the spot, and, gradually extending the circles 
when the keepers came down to see what had happened, they at length disappeared entirely from view. The 
young bird now fully showed itself; and as it appeared quite capable of flying, I took up a position below the 
tree while one of the men went up to drive it off. He had not mounted above halfway to the nest when it 
spread its wings and made an attempt to escape. I had now picked out more secure standing-ground, and an 
