without missing one, but when the King was taken out to
see their prowess at Royston, the quarry mounted to such
a height, “ as all the field lost sight of Kite and Hawke and
all, and neither Kite nor Hawke were either seen or heard of
to this present.” About a hundred years ago, the then
Lord Orford pursued the same sport at Alconbury Hill in
Huntingdonshire, and later still near Eriswell in Suffolk.
In proof of the docility of this species, Thompson relates
that the Kite itself, 011 the other hand, has been reclaimed
and trained to take a quarry, though of a humble kind.
Mr. R. Langtry procured from the nest a pair which became
tame and familiar, and notwithstanding that they were
allowed their liberty every morning, when they soared to a
great height, they always returned to the lure or fist on
being called, and while on the wing, rats let out of a cage-
trap were expertly caught by them.
This bird has now become exceedingly rare in England ;
extensive forests or well-wooded districts afforded it the only
chance of escape from the war of extermination carried
011 by those who wished to preserve their poultry or game.
Formerly it abounded throughout the country and even in
London, where it seems there was a regulation for its protection,
so as to have been an object of astonishment to
foreigners. Thus the Bohemian Schaschek who visited
England about 1461, after mentioning London Bridge in
his journal,* remarks that he had nowhere seen so great a
number of Kites as there, and the statement is confirmed
by Belon, who says that they were scarcely more numerous
in Cairo than in London, where they remained all the year,
feeding 011 the garbage of the streets and even of the
Thames itself, t
The nest, formed of sticks mixed with a variety of other
Bibliothek des literarischen Vereins in S tu ttg art, vii. p. 40 (1844).
t Knapp, in the ‘ Journal of a Naturalist ’ (p. 230), mentions th e singular
capture of some Kites which were roosting on ta ll trees in w in te r:— “ a fog
came on during the night, which froze early in th e morning, and fastened the
feet of th e poor kites so firmly to th e boughs th a t some adventurous youths
brought down, I think, fifteen of them so secured.” Mr. Fuller-Maitland has
kindly informed th e Editor th a t when a boy lie heard of the same or a similar
substances—such as hones, bits of old shoes, and fragments
of wasps’ nests, but lined with softer materials, in which
rags* seem always to have a place, is usually built in the
forked branch of a large tree, hut sometimes on a ledge of
rock. From three to four eggs are laid in April or May.
These are of a dirty white, more or less marked with spots
and blotches of light reddish-brown or brownish-yellow,
under which are often seen patches of pale lilac. They are
commonly of a short oval form, and measure from 2-43 to
2-05 by 1-82 to 1-64 in. The nest is sometimes vigorously
defended by the owners, and a boy has been known to be
severely wounded in attempting to take the eggs.
In the southern counties of England there seems to be no
place now wherein the Kite habitually breeds. There were
nests in Lincolnshire until the year 1857, hut owing in
a great measure to the cutting down of the woods it has
probably been driven from that locality. In ‘ The Zoologist
for 1871 (p. 2519), Mr. Newman mentions that two nests
were found in Radnorshire in 1870, so that it is to be hoped
that the species may still linger in Wales until happier
times await it. When the first edition ol this work was
published, the woods near Alconbury Hill were still the
breeding-places of the Kite, but it was extirpated there
about the year 1844, or soon after. In Scotland, where it
was formerly very common, it is now, according to Mr.
Robert Gray, but rarely seen even in those localities in the
west of that kingdom where, even as late as 1858, it
remained to breed, and it does so now probably in three
counties only—Aberdeen, Perth and Inverness. I t occasionally
occurs in the Hebrides, but in Ireland, according to
Thompson, it has only been known as a very rare visitant,
and Mr. Watters omits all mention of it.
capture from his father’s gamekeeper, a very old man. I t seems probable,
however, th a t it was ra th e r th e flight-feathers of th e birds which were frozen
together, and so hindered th e birds from extending th e ir wiDgs, th a n th a t th e ir
feet were frozen to th e boughs, b u t th e story is proof of th e abundance of the
Kite.
* Thus justifying th e saying Shakespear puts into th e mouth of Autolycus:
“ When the Kite builds, look to lesser linen.”— Winter’s Talc, Act iv. Sc. 2.