ALLIED KITE. 
wise attract flies and cause sickness. At favourable feeding grounds, such 
as slaughter-yards, they assemble in great numbers. They are useful, too, 
as grasshopper destroyers.” 
In the Austr. Mus. Spec. Cat., No. 1, North gives, as usual, a good 
account of the nidification and habits of this bird, but not as complete 
as usual, apparently “ on account of its very commonness.'’'’ From this source 
I take the following notes. Mr. K. H. Bennett wrote : “ Milvus affinis 
is only an occasional visitant to this district (Mossgiel, New South Wales), 
appearing here at uncertain intervals in incredible numbers, and remaining 
for more or less lengthened periods, sometimes over twelve months. I first 
saw them in 1856, when they came in thousands. On four or five occasions 
they have since appeared in equally large numbers, but always with an 
interval between each visitation, but for the last eight years (written in 
1886) only an occasional straggler has appeared. . . . The food of this 
bird consists chiefly of offal and garbage of all kinds, and the only prey 
I have seen it attempt to capture are grasshoppers, of which they destroy 
great numbers, flocks of Kites following the flying cloud of insects, darting 
in among them and clutching one or more in each claw, devouring them 
while on the wing. At certain times the grasshoppers deposit their eggs, 
just beneath the surface of the ground, on bare patches on the plains, 
and this is another harvest for the Kites, who assemble in large numbers, 
scratch up and devour the eggs. I have frequently seen several of these 
birds hovering over the fowl-yard when the fowls were being fed, and 
darting dowm, snatch a bit of bread or meat from an unwary hen, but never 
attempting to capture the smallest chicken.” Later, in 1889, Mr. Bennett 
observed : “ As a rule, the prey of this bird consists of insects, small 
reptiles, etc., to which offal is added whenever obtainable, but this year 
the prey, judging from the quantity of remains in the nests, as well as 
on the ground beneath, consists chiefly of rabbits of aU sizes, which, con- 
sidering the comparative weakness of this bird’s talons, is somewhat singular.” 
This is confirmed by Dr. Macgillivray, who wrote from Broken Hill, New 
South Wales : “ The dark form of Milvus affinis may often be observed 
circling round nearly every homestead and camp throughout the district, 
always on the look-out for stray scraps of meat, and not despising a chicken 
or young bird. To see them flying around overhead or flapping lazily 
along over the creek timber, one is apt to imagine the Kite a slow bird, 
but to see the same bird swoop for a piece of meat or other object on 
the ground, the illusion is dispelled, the swoop being lightning-like in rapidity 
and accuracy. They are never seen in such numbers here as in the Gulf 
District in Queensland. Their chief food here is the eternal rabbit, mostly 
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