SWALLOW-TAILED KITE.
Elanus furcatus, FLEMING. Milvus furcatus, JENYNS. Nauclerus furcatus, GOULD. Falco furcatus, WILSON.
Elanus—Perhaps from Elauno—To drive or chase. Furcatus—Forked.

This elegant species is very abundant in the southern and south-western states of America—to the extensive prairies of the latter of which it is peculiarly attached—and becomes much less frequent towards the north, particularly on the eastern side of that continent. It is found also in Peru and Buenos Ayres.
Three specimens only have as yet occurred in this country, driven over probably by tempestuous winds. One of them was killed in the year 1772, at Balachoalist, in Argyleshire, and the other was captured in Wensleydale, in Yorkshire, at Shaw-gill, near Hawes, on the 6th. of September, 1805. The 'pitiless pelting' of a tremendous storm, and the simultaneous buffetings of a flock of Rooks, drove it to take shelter in a thicket, in which it was caught before it was able to escape. It was kept by the person who captured it for a month, but it then made its escape through a door which had accidentally been left open. It alighted for a short time on a tree not far off, from which it soon afterwards rose upwards spirally to a vast height, and then, guided by its instinct, went off in a southerly direction as long as it could be observed. These facts are recorded in the fourteenth volame of the ' Linnaean Transactions,' in a letter from W. Fothergill, Esq., of Carr End, near Askrigg, the next town to Hawes. Two others since the above was written, are stated to have occurred, namely, one near Burlington, and one near Helmsley Blackmoor in 1851, by a gamekeeper of Lord Feversham.
The Swallow-tailed Kite is migratory in those countries of which it is an inhabitant, visiting certain parts in the spring to breed, and leaving them again in the autumn.
The flight of this bird is singularly easy and graceful, as its whole appearance at once indicates. Its airy evolutions are described as being most remarkable, its tail directing them in a peculiarly elegant manner. They are engaged in flight, generally, like their miniature effigies, the Swallows, throughout the day, so that except when on their migrations they are not easily approached, unless they can be stolen a march upon under cover when intently occupied in the pursuit of their prey. If one happens to be killed the others at once flock about it, so that then a number are liable to fall victims.
The Swallow-tailed Kite always feeds on the wing. In fine weather they soar to a great height in pursuit of large winged insects, which seem to form their favourite food; grasshoppers, locusts, cicadse, and caterpillars, bees, wasps, and their larvae in the comb, as well as flying insects, being extensively preyed upon by them. They also, however, devour small snakes, lizards, and frogs. In search of their terrestrial food, they sweep closely over the fields, and alighting, or rather seeming for an instant to alight to secure any which they may have observed, bear it off, and devour it in the air, feeding themselves with their claws. Meyer says that they sometimes take their prey off the branches of trees, as they fly along among them.
The note of this species is described by Audubon as sharp and plaintive. The pairing time is in the beginning of April, and the male and female sit alternately, each in turn feeding the other. They only have one brood in the year.
The nest, which is composed of sticks, and lined with grass and feathers, is usually built on the top of a tall tree, and the vicinity of water is preferred, probably on account of the insects to be found there.
The eggs are usually two, but it is said sometimes from four to six in number, of a greenish white colour, irregularly blotted with dark brown at the larger end. They are laid in the latter end of May or beginning of June.
Length, one foot eight inches, and from that to two feet, and even upwards; bill, bluish black; cere, light blue according to Tarrell and Meyer, (quoting Audubon,) but yellow according to Wilson, and covered at the base with bristles; iris, silvery cream-colour, surrounded with a red ring according to Wilson, but dark according to Tarrell; head, crown, neck, nape, chin, throat, and breast, pure white. The back, wings, (which expand to the extent of upwards of four feet and a half, and reach to within two inches of the tip of the tail, the third feather being a little longer than the second, and the longest in the wing,) greater and lesser wing coverts, primaries, and secondaries, black, with a metallic green and purple lustre; tertiaries, black on the outer webs, but patched with pure white on the inner. The greater part of the plumage is white at the base, which sometimes gives the bird a mottled appearance. The tail, which consists of twelve feathers, is black, glossed with green and purple, and very deeply forked; upper tail coverts, the same colour; under tail coverts, white. The legs, which are short and thick, and feathered in front half way below the knee, are, like the toes, greenish blue, according to Yarrell, but yellow according to Wilson: the anterior joints are scutellated. The claws, which are much curved, the outer one being very small, are dull orange, or flesh-colour, according to Yarrell and Meyer, but Wilson says whitish. There is little if any difference in colour between the male and female. The young are at first covered with yellowish down; afterwards they assume the distinct divisions of colour of their parents, but do not acquire the metallic lustre until arrived at maturity. The outside feathers of the tail do not reach their full length until autumn, so that it is gradually become more and more forked until then. In the following spring the whole plumage is complete.

"And Kites that swim sublime In still-repeated circles, screaming loud."
COWPER.