I 2 I 
Birds of Prey. 
The Black Kite. 
THE 
BLACK KITE. 
(Milvns migrans.) 
sticks, but is also remarkable for the assemblage of 
rubbish which the bird manages to collect. The 
eggs are two or three in number, greenish white, 
often unspotted, but on occasions blotched with 
reddish-brown. 
This is a much darker bird 
than M. milvns, and is to be told 
by its dark brown tail, which is 
barred across with blackish brown. 
A single specimen has been obtained at Alnwick, 
in Northumberland, in May, 1866. It is found 
locally throughout the greater part of Europe, 
being more abundant in the south, and it extends 
eastwards into Central Asia ; its winter home is in 
Africa. In habits it resembles other Kites, but is 
more gregarious than the preceding species, and 
frequents the neighbourhood of towns and villages 
in many parts of its range, where it feeds on all 
kinds of garbage. The nest is built of sticks and is profusely garnished with 
every sort of rubbish. The eggs vary in number from two to five ; they are dull 
white, with red blotches, and are more strongly marked than the eggs of the 
Common Kite. 
THE BLACK- 
SHOULDERED 
KITE. 
( Elanus cceruleus.) 
This is a tropical species found in Africa and India, and is a 
rare bird in Southern Europe. It is said to have occurred on one 
occasion in 
Co. Meath, 
in Ireland. 
It is easily recognisable by its 
blue-grey colour, white tail 
and underparts, and black 
wing-coverts, which form the 
shoulder patch from which 
the bird derives its name. 
The iris is of a bright 
carmine colour. 
The food of this species 
consists of small mammals 
and insects, and it has a 
habit of hovering in the air 
like a Kestrel. The nest is 
made of sticks and is always 
The Black-shouldered Kite. 
