Volume 20, Plate XX / Ornithology (Birds)

Kite

Milvus regalis

A very graceful bird locally distributed throughout the island, the Kite is plentiful in the woodlands of England and the Western Highlands but nearly unknown in southern Scotland, admired for its sailing gyrations and shrill whistling squeel. It nests about half way up a tree, laying two or three white eggs speckled with brown, and feeds on young game, farmyard produce, lizards, and the refuse left by herring fisheries on the beach.