Dark-red roses in a honeyed wind swinging,
Silk-soft hollyhock, colored like the moon;
Larks high overhead lost in light, and singing—
That’s the way of June.
Dark red roses in the warm wind falling
Velvet leaf by velvet leaf, all the breathless noon;
Far off sea waves calling, calling, calling—
That’s the way of June.
Sweet as scarlet strawberry under wet leaves hidden,
Honeyed as the damask rose, lavish as the moon,
Shedding lovely light on things forgotten, hopes forbidden—
That’s the way of June.
—Pall Mall Gazette.
THE SWALLOW-TAILED KITE.
(_Elanoides forficatus._)
Hawks in highest heaven hover,
Soar in sight of all their victims:
None can charge them with deception,
All their crimes are deeds of daring.
—Frank Bolles, “The Blue Jay.”
The late Dr. Coues enthusiastically writes of the beauty of the
Swallow-tailed Kite in the following words:
“Marked among its kind by no ordinary beauty of form and brilliancy of
color, the Kite courses through the air with a grace and buoyancy it
would be vain to rival. By a stroke of the thin-bladed wings and a
lashing of the cleft tail, its flight is swayed to this or that side in
a moment, or instantly arrested. Now it swoops with incredible
swiftness, seizes without a pause, and bears its struggling captive
aloft, feeding from its talons as it flies. Now it mounts in airy
circles till it is a speck in the blue ether and disappears. All its
actions, in wantonness or in severity of the chase, display the dash of
the athletic bird, which, if lacking the brute strength and brutal
ferocity of some, becomes their peer in prowess—like the trained
gymnast, whose tight-strung thews, supple joints, and swelling muscles,
under marvelous control, enable him to execute feats that to the more
massive or not so well conditioned frame would be impossible. One cannot
watch the flight of the Kite without comparing it with the thorough-bred
racer.”
The Swallow-tailed Kite inhabits the southern United States as far north
as the Carolinas. In the interior, it frequents the Mississippi valley,
commonly as far north as Minnesota and westward to the Great Plains. As
a casual visitor, it is found in New York, New England and Canada.
Though some may winter within the United States, the majority make their
winter home in Central and South America.
Swallow-like, this Kite never seems contented unless coursing through
the air. There is its home and it seems to frequent trees but little
except during the breeding season, when “flocks consisting of from two
or three to ten or twelve birds, but oftener of three, may be seen
following one another around, frequently uttering their calls and
circling in and out among the tree tops so fast as to make one dizzy to
look at them.” It captures its food, eats and drinks while on the wing,
and some one has said that he often wondered if it did not, at times,
even sleep while flying. Its wonderful endurance and power of flight
have more than once taken it across the ocean, where it has happily
surprised the ornithologists of Europe.
The legs of the Swallow-tailed Kite are so short that they are
practically useless for locomotion and it seldom lights on the ground.
Like the marsh hawks, it obtains its food while flying close to the
ground; or, if its prey be an insect, it pursues it in the air. Dragon
flies are dainty morsels for this graceful bird. At no time is the
Kite’s alertness and control of every muscle in its body more clearly
shown than when it is pursuing these insects. The peculiar zigzag and
vacillating flight of the dragon fly must puzzle the keenest vision, yet
this bird will instantly change the direction of its flight, swooping
downward, upward or to the side, without a moment’s hesitation, and
sometimes in order to secure the fly “it is necessary for it to turn
completely over in its evolutions.” It also feeds extensively on snakes
and other reptiles, insect larvæ and grasshoppers. It is very useful in
cotton fields, which it frequents, feeding on the cotton worm and other
injurious insects. The smaller snakes, however, form a large part of the
Kite’s diet and they are so frequently seen with these reptiles in their
talons that in the south they are sometimes called Snake Hawks. So far
as known, they do not capture the smaller birds or mammals.
[Illustration: SWALLOW-TAILED KITE.
(Elanoides forficatus.)
⅓ Life-size.
FROM COL. CHI. ACAD. SCIENCES.]
The Swallow-tailed Kite usually builds its nest in the tallest trees of
wild localities, where it is quite concealed by the foliage of the
smaller branches. The nest is often constructed with sticks and twigs,
but when obtainable, Spanish moss or the fibrous inner bark of the
cottonwood is used to make a thick and substantial lining. Some
observers state that the material is collected by the female, but that
the male assists in the construction of the nest. He is certainly a
faithful mate, for during the period of incubation she seldom leaves the
nest and he brings food to her. Both birds assist in feeding the young.
During this time, both sexes are vicious and will attack any intruder,
be it bird, beast or even man.
An interesting habit of this Kite is its method of leaving its nest. It
does not fly from the side, but seems to rise directly upward, “as if it
were pushed up with a spring.” On alighting, it hovers over the nest and
with an almost imperceptible motion of its wings gently lowers itself
until the nest is reached.
The antics of the Swallow-tailed Kite during the mating season are
particularly interesting. An observer of bird life says: “Of all aerial
performances I have ever witnessed, the mating of the Swallow-tailed
Kite excels. Ever charming and elegant, they outdo themselves at this
season. In Becker County, Minnesota, in the spring of 1886, they chose
as their mating ground an open space over the mouth of an ice-cold brook
that made its way out from a dark, tangled larch swamp. From my boat on
the lake I had an excellent view of them. All the afternoon seven of
these matchless objects sported, chasing each other here and there, far
and near, sailing along in easy curves, floating, falling and rising,
then darting with meteor-like swiftness, commingling and separating with
an abandon and airy ease that is difficult to imagine. The next day
three pairs were selecting nesting sites.”