KITES. 
199 
are laid in April or May. Nothing comes amiss to a kite when building, and, 
while the main framework of the nest is formed of sticks, these are supplemented 
by all kinds of rubbish, such as bones, fragments of leather, and rags, the latter 
forming the lining. When their nest is attacked, the parent birds make a vigorous 
resistance. As we have already had occasion to notice, the kite was a favourite 
quarry in hawking, showing excellent sport by the manner in which it endeavoured 
BLACK KITE AND RED KITE (1 nat. size). 
to baffle the falcon in its efforts to gain the advantage of position. More rarely the 
kite itself was trained to fly at the smaller kinds of birds. 
The black or migratory kite (M. migrans), represented in the upper 
figure of our illustration, is a rather smaller bird than the last, from which 
it may be distinguished by its dark brown tail, faintly barred with a still deeper 
tint, the general dark brown hue of the plumage of the upper - parts, save on 
the head and throat, where the feathers are whitish with dark stripes. It 
is further characterised by the black beak, and the absence of any distinct patch 
