174 
NATURAL HISTORY 
are fay the sea shore; it also frequents the borders of 
large lakes or rivers; and is said to see so distinctly in 
the dark, as to be able to pursue and catch its prey dur- 
ing the night. 
Kite. ( Aquila Mitmis . PI. 25.) Gf all obscene birds 
the kite is the best known, and may be easily distinguish- 
ed from the rest of the tribe by his forked tail, and his 
slow floating motion, seeming almost for ever upon the 
wing. He appears, indeed, to rest himself upon the air 
without making the smallest effort in flying. As almost 
every bird of the air is able to elude its pursuit, he sub- 
sists only upon accidental carnage; and may be consi- 
dered as an insidious thief, who, on finding a small bird 
wounded, or a young chicken strayed from its mother, 
improves the moment of calamity to his own advantage. 
Sometimes indeed his hunger urges him to acts of des- 
peration. We have seen one fly round and round, for a 
while, to mark a clutch of chickens, and then suddenly 
dart upon the unresisting little animal, and carry it off; 
the parent hen in vain crying out, and the boys booting 
and casting stones, to scare it from its plunder. 
This bird is common in England, where it continues 
the whole year. It is found in various parts of Europe, 
in very northern latitudes, whence it retires towards 
Egypt before winter, in great numbers; it is said to breed 
there, and return in April to Europe, where it breeds a 
second time, contrary to the nature of rapacious birds in 
general. The female lays two or three eggs of a whitish 
colour, spotted with pale yellow, and of a roundish form. 
Common Buzzard. (J/Eruginosus . PL 25.) Natural- 
ists have distinguished the buzzards from the eagles and 
hawks by their habits and dispositions, which they com- 
pare to those of the vultures, and place them after those 
birds. Though possessed of strength, agility, and wea- 
pons to defend themselves, they are cowardly, inactive, 
and slothful; they will fly before a sparrow-hawk, and 
when overtaken, will suffer themselves to be beaten, and 
even brought to the ground, without resistance. 
The buzzard is about twenty inches in length, and four 
feet in breadth from tip to tip of the wings. His head 
