The Common Kite. BIRDS. The Black-winged Kite. 259 
uncommon, and extends eastward into Siberia; in tlie 
more northern regions, it is a summer resident, migrat- 
ing southwards in the autumn. 
The Kite measures from twenty-five to twenty-seven 
inches in length, including the long forked tail with 
which it is furnished. The general colour of the 
plumage of its back is reddish-brown, the feathers 
being dark brown with broad reddish edges ; the head 
and neck are greyish, and the whole lower surface 
reddish-brown, as are also the tail feathers. The wing 
primaries are black. The beak is horn colour, the cere 
and feet are yellow, and the claws black. The wings 
of the Kite are very long, and of immense extent as 
compared wfith its body, and from this circumstance 
and the gi’eat power of the tail, the flight of the bird 
is singularly graceful and easy. The extended wings 
seem to have the power of supporting their owner in 
the air almost without the least exertion : it glides 
smoothly along without effort, now rising gently, now 
descending, to use the words of Buffon, “ as if sliding 
upon an inclined plane,” now wheeling round in 
graceful circles, and all with scarcely a perceptible 
movement of the wings, but simply by the action of 
the rudder-like tail. From this beautiful gliding 
motion no doubt, the Kite has in some districts received 
the name of the G^ed or Glead, which has probably 
survived from the days of our Saxon ancestors. During 
his graceful evolutions, however, the Kite has usually 
his eyes steadily fixed upon the ground beneath him, 
with which he seems to have so little to do ; and the 
moment his prey makes its appearance in the shape of 
a mole, a mouse, a young rabbit or leveret, or any 
other small terrestrial animal, the long wings are closed 
in an instant, and the Kite descends with astonishing 
velocity upon his devoted quarry. Lizards, frogs, and 
snakes constitute a portion of the food of the Kite, and 
he has been seen to capture fish with great address. 
In some countries he takes his share of carrion with 
the other feathered scavengers ; and in London, in the 
reign of Henry VIIL, there were, as we are told by 
Clusius, vast numbers of kites always on the look-out 
for the offal, with which the streets of the city were 
polluted. He appears rarely to pursue birds upon the 
wing, but the young of the gallinaceous birds not 
unfrequently fall victims to his talons, and chickens are 
sometimes carried off by him from the poultry yard, 
although the hen by her vociferations and show of 
resistance sometimes succeeds in driving off the 
cowardly plunderer. In fact, the courage of the Kite 
seems to be of very low quality, for he allows himself 
to be attacked and even brought down by the Sparrow- 
hawk, without making much show of resistance. In 
France, as already mentioned, the Kite was pursued by 
falcons for the amusement of the king; and the same 
sport has been followed in our own country, as recorded 
by Sir John Sebright. The Kite was attracted towards 
the ground by means of a great owl, to the leg of 
which a fox’s brush was usually attached ; this was 
thrown up into the air within sight of the Kite, and 
the latter, no doubt wondering what strange creature 
this was, would gradually advance within the proper 
distance of the hawking party. The owl, having been 
previously trained, was then brought down to the lure. 
and a cast of hawks thrown up in pursuit of the Kite. 
In captivity the Kite is said to become very tame and 
familiar, and to display a most engaging amiability of 
disposition. 
The nest, which is usually built upon the forked 
branch of a tree in the thickest part of a wood, is 
composed of sticks and lined with soft materials. It 
contains from two to three eggs, of a dirty white colour, 
with a few reddish-brown spots at the larger end. In 
defence of its nest the Kite seems to exhibit an unusual 
degree of courage, for Mr. Yarrell tells us that “ a boy 
who climbed up to one had a hole picked through his 
hat, and one hand severely wounded, before he could 
drive away the parent bird.” 
THE BLACK KITE {Milvus niger), an inhabitant of 
the south of Europe and of Africa, is still more 
remarkable as a scavenger than our British species. It 
is exceedingly abundant in Abyssinia, where it is con- 
stantly seen clearing the streets and compounds in 
company with crows. But the most extraordinary 
part of the character of this bird is its wonderful impu- 
dence. It frequents the towns and cities of the East in 
great abundance, and will descend upon chickens, and 
carry them off from under the very noses of their 
owners, or even snatch away food from the hands of 
men and women. Dr. Petit mentions his having seen 
one of these birds at Cairo carry off a piece of bread 
and cheese from an Arab woman as she was in the act 
of putting it into her mouth ; and on another occasion, 
as a black boy employed by him in preparing birds was 
engaged upon the skin of a pigeon, a kite descended 
upon him, tore away the head of the bird, which 
alone contained any flesh, and left the skin in the 
hands of the astonished young taxidermist. 
THE GOVINDA KITE {Milvus Govinda), an inhabi- 
tant of India, and apparently of the entire southern 
part of the Asiatic continent, agrees very closely with 
the Black Kite in its habits, having an equal predilec- 
tion for carrion and an equally bad character as an 
impudent robber. These birds will descend upon garb- 
age in the most crowded streets, and often seize it in 
their talons at the moment of its being thrown out and 
before it reaches the ground; and, according to Colonel 
Sykes, they will even occasionally stoop upon a dish of 
meat on its way from the cook-room to the house. 
THE BLACK-WINGED KITE {Elanus melanoptervs) 
is a small species of this group, which appears to 
be spread over nearly the whole of the warmer part 
of the Old World. It is abundant in India and 
the islands of the Eastern seas, and in Africa from 
Egypt to the Cape of Good Hope; specimens also 
occur, although rarely, in the south of Europe. Its 
colour is an ashy grey on the upper parts, becoming 
nearly black on the wings; the whole inferior sur- 
face is pure white. It feeds principally upon insects, 
which it often whips up with great address from 
the ears of standing grain in the fields; in some 
places it preys freely upon mice, pouncing down upon 
these small quadrupeds with the rapidity of lightning. 
Although it sometimes kills and devours small birds, it 
does not usually capture them on the wing,’ but seizes 
them when on the ground or the branch of a tree. Its 
mode of flight, when hunting for food, is compared to 
