uver in the vicinity,
flying in a roughly circular course perhaps 100 feet in diameter and
then returning to the nest tree, thereby familiarizing themselves with
their surroundings.

According to the consensus of published accounts, there are usually
two eggs per clutch, occasionally one or three. However, Ganier
(1902:89), who studied the species in Mississippi, wrote: "Of all the
nests I have examined [number unspecified] only one was found to
contain more than a single egg." Nice (1931:69) recorded 19 sets of
two each and seven of one each in Oklahoma. In the course of my
observations, 12 clutches of two were recorded. A group of four
fledglings were observed concentrating their activities at a nest more
than 200 feet from any other known nests; possibly all belonged to the
same brood, but this was not definitely determined.

Many of the nests that were in use in 1961 appeared to be relics from
earlier years, as the material was darkened and disintegrating, but
probably a new layer of sticks had been added on the top. Bent (_op.
cit._:65) mentioned this kite's habit of frequently using the same
nest in successive years. On one occasion as I drove over a
little-used road in the Park and passed a cottonwood grove where kites
were nesting, one of the birds swooped down and struck the top of the
automobile. In a subsequent conversation, Harry Smith asked me if this
had happened, and said that this particular kite had struck his truck
frequently when he drove past its nest. This had occurred at the same
place in three successive years, and Smith was convinced that the same
kite had used the nest each year, although the bird was not
recognizable except by its unusually aggressive behavior. On dozens of
occasions in the course of my observations kites swooped at me when I
was near their nests, but, except for this one individual, they always
veered away at a distance of several feet or several yards.

At the time of my visit to the Park in early June, kites were
relatively silent and secretive in their behavior. Approximately half
of those that were incubating flushed when a person walked near the
tree, but others continued to sit on their eggs until a person had
climbed to within a few feet of the nest. Upon being flushed, such a
kite, in 50 per cent of observed instances, swooped at least once at
the intruder, but some of the kites would soar overhead, watching
without making any active defense. At the time of my next