FALCONIDAE—KITE. 169
March, 1878, one chased a sparrow into a stable at Priors, Broomfield, when the
door being shut it was quickly killed, and on August 23rd following, a young
one killed itself by flying against a window, st
Melbourne, about a mile distant from Priors.
In Orsett district, Mr. Sackett says it breeds
commonly, especially in the Old Ford Woods
and Mucking Heronry. One nest he discovered
in June, 1885, was in the fork of a tree, only
about six feet from the ground, so that he was
able to reach it without climbing ; and a clutch
he took on the 17th of the same month was
deposited in a portion of the nest of a Carrion
Crow that had been pulled from its original
position, but had lodged on some branches.
Kite : Milvus ictinus. Locally,
" Crotchet-tailed (or Crutch-tailed) Put-
tock."
Now practically extinct, though form-
erly abundant. It has been known to
breed once or twice in Britain during
the last few years, but will probably not
do so for long. In Essex, no specimen
has been recorded for many years, and records show that it
had become scarce by the end of
the first quarter of the present
century, though a nest, men-
tioned below, is said to have
been built at Mersea as late as
1845.
Mr. Clarke notes (24) the occur-
rence of one, obtained by Mr. Stephen
Salmon, at Newport, in 1829; of a
male (now in Walden Museum) ob-
tained at Ashdon about 1830 ; and of
another at Debden on June 22nd, 1837.
Probably the last-named is the male
from Debden, now in Walden Museum,
presented by the Hon. Lindsay Burrell.
The date of its death indicates that it
must have been breeding. Mr. Clarke
writes me : " The last I saw was about
ten or twelve years ago. It sailed over
so low that it was within gunshot."
"J. C," of Witham, writing in March,
1834, says (12. vii. 511) :
" We have a few about us. It is provincially called the ' Crotchet-tailed Put-
tock.' One flew over the garden a few days ago, mobbed by several Rooks.