. Cassell's book of birds . oot nine inches, and the tail not more than five male is not quite so large. This remarkable bird, whose extraordinary appearance has caused it to be the subject of manystrange superstitions among the natives of Africa, is found throughout the whole of that continent, BIRDS OF PREY. 33 excepting its most northern portions : it lives principally in mountainous districts, but neverthelessconstantly makes its appearance in all parts of the widely-extended plains; yet, notwithstanding thefrequency with which this bird is seen by travellers, it is by no means
. Cassell's book of birds . oot nine inches, and the tail not more than five male is not quite so large. This remarkable bird, whose extraordinary appearance has caused it to be the subject of manystrange superstitions among the natives of Africa, is found throughout the whole of that continent, BIRDS OF PREY. 33 excepting its most northern portions : it lives principally in mountainous districts, but neverthelessconstantly makes its appearance in all parts of the widely-extended plains; yet, notwithstanding thefrequency with which this bird is seen by travellers, it is by no means easy to obtain possession of aspecimen, as it usually soars so high when in flight as to be out of gunshot, and will often pass theentire day in thus sailing over extensive tracts of country ; at noon, however, it may generally befound slaking its thirst at a pool of water, or taking a short nap upon a tree near some stream. Theafternoon and early evening are spent in the pursuit of food, and it is only when darkness has ft. THE short-tailed KITE {Hdotarsus ecaudatus). fully closed in that the Mountebank seeks shelter for the night. Le Vaillant mentions having seenthis species flying about in pairs, but we ourselves have always found it solitary; during the breedingseason alone it is to be found associated with others of its kind in small parties. Speke tells us thatthe Short-tailed Kite is regarded by some of the African tribes with superstitious dread, its shadowbeing supposed to bring ill-luck, while others, on the contrary, venerate it on account of its imaginary-powers of healing by means of rare medicinal roots which they imagine that it flies to a great distanceto obtain. The latter notion has no doubt arisen from the fact that the snakes so frequently devouredby this bird have been mistaken for pieces of roots, when borne by their destroyer to its ii.—44 34 cassklls book of birds. From the strange antics and remarkable appearance of this Kite, it is
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Keywords: ., bookauthorbreh, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, booksubjectbirds
