material which can be obtained in the locality. It is usually placed in the forked branch of a tree, in a thick wood. The eggs, two or three in number, are of a short oval form, white, with a few reddish brown spots, or dots; length, about two inches and a quarter; breadth, one inch and three quarters.

In many parts of Britain the Buzzard is called the Kite; in Herts, Essex, and some other counties, Puttock is the name applied to this latter bird. Shakspeare, in the second part of Henry IV., identifies these two names:

Who finds the Partridge in the Puttock's nest,
But may imagine how the bird was dead,
Though the Kite soar with an unbloodied beak.

In France the falconers of Louis XVI. trained powerful Falcons to fly at Kites. Hence the term Milvus regalis, 'royal sport,' applied to this bird, which was formerly trained in England for the sport of hawking, as we learn from Sir John Sebright, who says that the Fork-tailed Kites were much flown by the Earl of Oxford in the neighbourhood of Aconbury Hall. A great Owl, to the leg of which the falconers used to tie a fox's brush, not only to impede its flight, but to make it, as they fancy, more attractive, was thrown up to draw down the Kite.

When in pursuit of prey, the Kite has sometimes exhibited great audacity; but some naturalists contend that it is a very cowardly bird, often allowing itself to be defeated by the Sparrow-hawk, and even intimidated by a clucking hen.

'No bird,' says M. Valmont Bomare, 'has a more easy or rapid flight. It is named the Royal Kite because it was subservient to the pleasure of princes, who hunted it with the Falcon and Sparrow-hawk; but the epithet Royal is ill merited for the Kite. In fact, we see this cowardly bird-which ranks among the ignoble Hawks, because it is not susceptible of any education, although endowed with. all the faculties which ought to give it courage, and having

58

THE SWALLOW-TAILED KITE.

no defect of arms, strength, or agility-refuse to fight, and fly before the much smaller Sparrow-hawk, turning and rising to conceal itself in the clouds, until the more active and courageous Hawk overtakes it, assails it with wings, talons, and bill, and drags it to the earth, less wounded than beaten, and vanquished by the dread than by the strength of its enemy.'

Although the Kite was not one of the birds of the Falcon kind which were formerly trained for hawking, yet it appears to be by no means an unteachable bird; for it is stated, in the 'Magazine of Zoology and Botany,' by Mr. R. Langtry, Argyleshire, that, having procured from the nest two young Kites, they at once became very tame and familiar, and were so gentle in disposition as to be most engaging. Every morning they had their liberty, never flew far, but soared to a great height in the air, and in still repeated circles displayed their graceful and peculiar flight. To either cage or fist they always returned when called. Mice were preferred by them to birds or any other food. When these Kites were on the wing, rats let off from the cage-trap were expertly caught by them.

As a proof of courage in the bird, we may also mention that one which had pounced down on a Partridge, and been wounded by the sportsman, for some time resisted capture, striking at his assailant with bill and talons most fiercely and resolutely.'

One of the common names of the Kite is the Gled Hawk, and to this, probably, allusion is made by Madge Wildfire:

When the Gled's in the blue cloud

The Laverock lies still.

THE WHITE-HEADED SWALLOW-KITE, sometimes called the Swallow-tailed Kite (Nauclerus, or Falco furcatus), is distinguished from all the British Falconida by its very long and deeply-forked tail, as well as its peculiar colouring,

which is decided black and white, the upper parts of the body being the former, the under the latter. It is a most elegant bird, and very interesting in its habits, which have been fully described by Audubon; but as only two or three specimens have been taken in this country, they being stragglers from the New World, its proper home, we need not occupy our space with any details concerning it.

60

AMONG THE PIGEONS.

THE GOSHAWK (Accipiter, or Falco palumbarius). In the old days of falconry this bird was highly valued for its courage and docility. It is larger than the Gyr Falcon, but is shorter in the wing, is less compact and powerful, and wants the elegance of form which distinguishes the Peregrine. The colour of the upper part of the plumage is dark brown, the back being mottled, and the quills and tail-feathers margined with light reddish brown, inclining to grey. The tail is prettily barred; and the undulating lines and shadings which mark the greater part of the plumage give a very beautiful and striking effect to the whole. The eye of this bird is extremely quick and penetrating; and its actions and movements indicate great daring and energy. It will fly at the largest game, and is very destructive to grouse and other objects of pursuit with the sportsman. It was at one time plentiful in Britain, but has now become rare, owing to the spread of cultivation, before which it retires, and the eagerness with which it is pursued and destroyed by gamekeepers and others. The favourite home of the Goshawk is the wooded dells and glens of mountain districts, and wild cliffs by the sea-shore, where it is most likely to be secure from its greatest enemy—man.

Audubon describes the flight of this Hawk as extremely rapid and protracted. He sweeps along the margins of the fields, through the woods, and past the edges of ponds and rivers, with such speed as to enable him to seize his prey by merely deviating a few yards from his course, assisting himself on such occasions by his long tail, which, like a rudder, he throws to the right or left, upwards or downwards, to check his progress, or enable him suddenly to alter his course. Should a flock of wild pigeons pass him, when on these predatory excursions, he immediately gives chase, soon overtakes them, and, forcing his way into the very centre of the flock, scatters them in confusion, when you may see him emerging with a bird in his talons, and

THE FALCON GENTLE.

61

diving towards the depths of the forest to feed upon his victim. When travelling, he flies high, with a constant beat of the wings, seldom moving in large circles, like other Hawks; and when he does this, it is only a few times in a hurried manner, after which he continues his journey. This author further describes the bird as restless, seldom alighting unless to devour his prey, which consists of small quadrupeds, grouse, ducks, pigeons, snipes, and other birds. Its nest, which is placed in the branches of a tree near the trunk, is large, and constructed of twigs and coarse grass, with a lining of fibrous materials; the eggs, dull bluish white, or with a greenish tinge, sometimes spotted with brown, but often without markings. Temminck says that the eggs of the European Goshawk are greenish grey, without spots; they are about four in number. The male of this species measures about twenty inches; the female, as is generally the rule with rapacious birds, about four or five inches more.

On account of its docility, this bird obtained of old the name 'Falcon gentle'- a term, as we have seen, sometimes also applied to the Peregrine. According to William Browne, this was the species of Hawk which, represented in the hieroglyphics, signified rapidity of movement :

The well-plumed Goshawk by the Egyptian's grave,
Used in the mystic character for speed.

Probably, also, this is the species of Falcon of which that touching story is told by the Italian poet, Boccacio; being short, we may as well give it a place here:

Frederigo, of the Alberighi family, loved a gentlewoman, and was not requited with like love again. But by bountiful expenses, and over-liberal invitations, he wasted all his lands and goods, having nothing left him but a Hawk or Falcon. His unkind mistress happened to come to visit him, and he not having any other food for her dinner, made a dainty dish of his Falcon for her to feed on. Being conquered by this excceding