A Massachusett s Record for the White-tailed Kite. — As this bird is 
rare east of the Mississippi River, and in fact is scarcely much more than a 
straggler even in that region, its appearance on the Atlantic coast as far 
north as New England is very extraordinary. On May 30 last I saw an 
adult bird at very close range on the island of Martha’s Vineyard. It was 
so close and was watched with glasses for such a long time, both by myself 
and Mr. C. E. Brown of the Boston Society of Natural History, that there 
was not the slightest doubt in our minds as to its identity. We were spend- 
ing several days on the island studying the birds and on one of our daily 
trips came upon this specimen very unexpectedly at a fresh meadow at the 
head of one of the ponds. When first seen he was sitting on a post not a 
hundred yards distant and we took him to be a marsh hawk, but on look- 
ing again before even raising our glasses, we saw that he was something 
very [different. His white head and tail and more especially the black 
lesser wing coverts were very distinctive at that distance and immediately 
attracted our attention. The ashy blue back was what suggested an adult 
Marsh Hawk at first glance. From this distance we watched him for 
some time with our glasses and on a nearer approach he flew to another 
post, which he shortly abandoned to soar above the meadows at a height 
of a hundred or more feet. There were many Red-wing Blackbirds nesting 
in the bushes by the stream and they were so alarmed at his presence that 
they several times attacked him. We imagined he was looldng for mice 
or perhaps frogs, as he apparently did not bother the birds. When he 
saw his prey below he would commence fluttering like a Sparrow Hawk, and 
then, on seeing his chance, he raised his wings above his back, so that they 
almost touched, whereupon he descended, gaming speed as he went. In- 
stead of checking himself on nearing the ground, he seemed to dive head- 
long into the grass and bushes, remaining out of sight several seconds 
before reappearing. We were unable to make out if he had anything in 
his claws when he arose again. This process was repeated several times 
and was a remarkably interesting performance. Finally he lit on another 
post and I crawled towards him keeping close to the fence, so that I actually 
got within ten yards of him before he flew, getting a wonderful view. 
He arose from there very much startled at my presence, flew over the hills 
and disappeared. The following week, on our next trip, which we made in 
the hopes of again locating him, he was seen once more at long range, 
but except for these two times we never caught another glimpse of him. 
I believe this Kite has never before been seen in New England, but of 
course it can only be regarded as a very rare straggler, scarcely deserving 
a place on our New England list. — S. Prescott Fay, Boston, Mass. 
Ank 27.0ot-1910 p. 
