4, 1961, all young
had recently left the nests and were able to fly. However, their
behavior was so much different from that of the adults that a reliable
ratio could not be obtained. The fledglings tended to remain in the
nest tree, or to make relatively short flights near it, while the
adults occupied with catching of prey for themselves and their young,
spent much of their time aloft. The adults were hence far more
conspicuous than the fledglings. However, it is my impression that the
fledglings were from one-third to one-fourth as numerous as the
adults. If this ratio is correct, and if all adults had bred, from
two-thirds to three-fourths of the eggs and/or nestlings must have
been destroyed. This rate of loss seems reasonable in view of the
known histories of nests observed in June and again in July, and of
the fates of birds' nests in general.

Summary

Mississippi kites were studied in southwestern Kansas in the summer of
1961, at various localities, especially at Meade State Park. At this
locality, near the northwestern limit of the breeding range, the kite
thrives in typical High Plains habitat dominated by a short-grass type
of vegetation, but availability of trees suitable for nests is a
limiting factor. Since maturing of extensive groves of cottonwoods and
other trees planted at Meade State Park, the colony of kites has
increased tremendously and the breeding population probably exceeded
100 in 1961.

The kites are social in all their activities and do not maintain
territories. The sexes differ little in appearance, but males are
slightly smaller than females and have paler heads. Food consists
almost entirely of flying insects, and these are usually eaten while
the kite is in flight. Kites that are feeding nestlings may travel up
to two miles from the nest or perhaps considerably farther in the
course of their foraging. For 148 feedings of nestlings the observed
intervals averaged 10.7 minutes. Most published references to the food
habits mention predation on small vertebrates, especially lizards, but
including also snakes, toads, rodents, and even rabbits. In my study a
total of 205 pellets were collected and 453 insects were tentatively
identified but the total number of insects in the pellets was much
larger. No vertebrates were identified from this sample and among 358
prey items identified from kite stomachs collected in Oklahoma, by
Sutton, vertebrae of a small f