it will often engage in serious conflicts, is by no means courageous. In captivity it soon becomes exceedingly tame, and, unlike other birds of prey, quite enjoys being stroked. But little care, either as regards food or climate, is required to keep the Mountebank in health when caged, as it can endure almost any variety of temperature. Gazelles, lambs, sick sheep, young ostriches, and carrion are said to constitute its favourite food, but we cannot vouch for the truth of this statement, as our own observations have led us to the conclusion that this species subsists chiefly upon reptiles, and is equally destructive to snakes of all kinds, whether poisonous or not. When in pursuit of food of this description, it is immediately attracted by the conflagrations that frequently break out upon the vast plains of their native land, and will fly quite close down to the line of fire, snatching its victims as they vainly attempt to escape from the dense cloud of smoke in which they are enveloped; they will, no doubt, if driven by hunger, occasionally eat carrion. The period of incubation commences with the dry season, when, owing to the parched state of the ground, snakes are easily discovered among the burnt-up grass. The eyrie is usually built at the summit of a high tree, and the brood consists, according to Le Vaillant, of from three to four eggs, but we ourselves have never succeeded in finding more than two. * * * * * The GLIDING KITES (_Elanus_) are common in all parts of the world, with the exception of Europe, where they are very rarely met with. This group is composed of four species, resembling each other in an unusual degree. All have compact bodies and thick plumage; their wings, of which the second quill is longer than the rest, extend beyond the tip of the short, slightly excised, and by no means powerful tail. The feet are short, powerful, and only partially covered with feathers, the middle toe is longer than the tarsus, and all the toes are armed with very sharp, hooked talons; the beak, which is short and comparatively high, is much bent, and terminates in a long hook; the margin of the upper mandible bulges slightly outwards. The plumage is extremely silky in its texture, and resembles that of the Owl in the formation of its feathers. THE TRUE GLIDING KITE.