270 THE ESSEX NATURALIST.
in the Macclesfield Museum, and was auctioned in London in
June, 1861. Yarrell gives a figure of the bird from a specimen
formerly in the museum of the Zoological Society. Seebohm
also includes the species, giving information similar to that
of Yarrell. Bowdler Sharpe, who furnishes a coloured illustra-
tion of the species, includes it in his list, but states "The Swallow-
tailed Kite is so firmly established in the British list of birds,
that to omit it would seem to be a mistake, and yet the claims
of the species to be considered British are of the very slenderest."
He continues: "I believe I am correct in saying that no authentic
British example of the Swallow-tailed Kite exists in any private
collection or public museum in this country." Howard Saunders
in his Manual rejected the species, with the opinion that the.
Yorkshire bird was probably an escape. The Swallow-tailed
Kite is excluded from Hartert's Die Vogel der Palaarktischen
Fauna, and Witherby's Practical Hani-Book. The fact that the
species has never been recorded from the continent of Europe
is of great importance. One is justified in saying, therefore,
that this Kite has not been established as a British Bird.
Does our newly acquired specimen affect the position? So
far as my researches have gone I have found no notice of this
bird, and Mr. Miller Christy does not mention it in his Birds
of Essex. Apparently this specimen has never been recorded.
Sir Vauncey had a dislike to publicity, and the only knowledge
we possess is that of Stevens's catalogue. As to the accuracy
of the statement that the Kite was shot in Essex, it is probable
that no information will be forthcoming, but, even if it could
be accepted, it will be clear, from what has already been stated,
that the history of this Essex specimen is so obscure, that no
other course is open but to label it as of doubtful origin.
It may not be inappropriate to conclude by giving some of
the habits of the Swallow-tailed Kite. Yarrell, quoting Audubon,
writes: "They always feed on the wing. In calm and warm
weather, they soar to an immense height, pursuing the large
insects called Musquito Hawks, and performing the most singular
evolutions that can be conceived, using their tail with an elegance
of motion peculiar to themselves. Their principal food, how-
ever, is large grasshoppers, grass-caterpillars, small snakes,
lizards, and frogs. They sweep close over the fields, sometimes
seeming to alight for a moment to secure a snake, and holding