76 
THE MISSISSIPPI KITE. 
Hawk, dashing at the former, and giving them chase, as if in play, until 
these cowardly scavengers sweep downwards, abandoning this to them 
disagreeable sport to the Hawks, who now continue to gambol undisturbed. 
When in pursuit of a large insect or a small reptile, it turns its body side- 
wise, throws out its legs, expands its talons, and generally seizes its prey in 
an instant. It feeds while on wing, apparently with as much ease and 
comfort, as when alighted on the branch of a tall tree. It never alights on 
the earth ; at least I have never seen it do so, except when wounded, and 
then it appears extremely awkward. It never attacks birds or quadrupeds 
of any kind, with the view of destroying them for food, although it will chase 
a fox to a considerable distance, screaming loudly all the while, and soon 
forces a Crow to retreat to the woods. 
The nest of this species is always placed in the upper branches of the 
tallest trees. I thought it gave the preference to those tall and splendid 
magnolias and white oaks which adorn our Southern States. The nest 
resembles that of the dilapidated tenement of the Common American Crow, 
and is formed of sticks slightly put together, along with branches of Spanish 
moss ( Usnea ), pieces of vine bark, and dried leaves. The eggs are two or 
three, almost globular, of a light greenish tint, blotched thickly over with 
deep chocolate-brown and black. Only one brood is raised in the season, 
and I think the female sits more than half the time necessary for incubation. 
The young I also think obtain nearly the full plumage of the old bird before 
they depart from us, as I have examined these birds early in August, when 
the migration was already begun, without observing much difference in their 
general colour, except only in the want of firmness in the tint of the young 
ones. 
Once, early in the month of May, I found a nest of this bird placed on a 
fine tall white oak near a creek, and observed that the female was sitting 
with unceasing assiduity. The male I saw bring her food frequently. Not 
being able to ascend the tree, I hired a negro, who had been a sailor for 
some years, to climb it and bring down the eggs or young. This he did by 
first mounting another tree, the branches of which crossed the lower ones of 
the oak. No sooner had he reached the trunk of the tree on which the nest 
was placed, than the male was seen hovering about and over it in evident 
displeasure, screaming and sweeping towards the intruder the higher he 
advanced. When he attained the branch on which the nest was, the female 
left her charge, and the pair, infuriated at his daring, flew with such velocity, 
and passed so close to him, that I expected every moment to see him struck 
by them. The black tar, however, proceeded quietly, reached the nest, and 
took out the eggs, apprising me that there were three. I requested him to 
bring them down with care, and to throw off the nest, which he did. The 
