_Milvus ictinus_, the Red Kite or Fork-tailed Glead of the Old World, ranging from the Atlantic Islands–except, perhaps, the Azores–through most of Europe to Palestine, Asia Minor, and Northern Africa, but leaving the northerly districts in autumn, is red-brown above and rusty-red beneath, the lower surface and the whitish head being streaked with dark brown. {169}[Illustration: FIG. 41.–Red Kite. _Milvus ictinus._ × ⅛. (From _Bird Life in Sweden_.)] It is still known to breed in certain parts of Northern and Western Britain, though no longer the ubiquitous scavenger of the streets, so common even in London three or four centuries ago. Bold thefts of poultry from farmyards and linen from drying-grounds then counterbalanced its utility, but none the less may we regret the almost total extermination of this fine tenant of the air, caused by the increase of fire-arms and the discovery that its tail-feathers make the choicest salmon-flies. Not unlike a Buzzard when aloft, the shrill whistling note, when heard, constitutes a clear mark of distinction; while the broad wings and long deeply-forked tail bestow such graceful ease of motion and perfect steerage power as few birds can claim, whether for soaring and circling aloft, quartering the ground for booty, or hovering over the water to fish. It is not always, however, that the forked character of the tail is apparent, for when fully open it looks square, just as a square tail seems rounded. This species {170}is somewhat gregarious and sluggish, and feeds on offal, small mammals, birds, reptiles, fish, amphibians, insects and their larvae. The nest is a mass of sticks, rags, paper, and rubbish generally, placed in a tree or rarely in a rock; the three, or exceptionally four, eggs being like those of the Buzzard, but duller and with more lilac tints. _Milvus migrans_, the Black Kite, once recorded in England, extends throughout Central and Southern Europe, and probably to China, breeding in North-Western and migrating to Southern Africa. The upper parts are dark brown, the under parts rufous, and the head whitish, the two latter being streaked with dusky; the bill is black and the tail moderately forked. Barely separable from this bird are _Milvus aegyptius_ of Africa, Madagascar, South-East Europe, and West Asia, with yellow bill; _M. affinis_, of Papuasia and Australia, possibly reaching Ceylon; _M. melanotis_, extending from India to Lake Baikal, China, and Japan; and the smaller _M. govinda_ of somewhat similar range. The third and fourth have a white patch beneath the primaries. The last-named, or Pariah Kite, is the scavenger of Hindostan, and is even bolder than its congeners; the habits, however, are similar, as are those of the Australian _Lophoictinia isura_, separated from _Milvus_ on account of its square tail. This species has a fine crest, and differs, moreover, in its browner crown and greyer rectrices with whitish coverts.