Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 3 (1899).djvu/272

246 —Very rare, according to Benoit, who adds:—"I am told, however, that it often appears in the interior of the island." Doderlein says that it is very rare, confuting the assertion of Schembri, who mentions it as very common. Giglioli also says that it is rare; it is very rare in the Province of Messina (Ruggeri, Pistone); rare but resident upon the mountains in the district of Modica (Dellafonte, Garofalo); finally, Leonardi excludes the Black Kite from his list of the birds of Girgenti. At Malta it is rare, according to Schembri, Wright, and Blasius.

—Cara notices the Black Kite as being less common than Milvus ictinus. It has been mentioned by Salvadori and Lepori on the strength of this assertion; Giglioli found a young specimen in the Cagliari Museum, labelled Falco barbarus.

It is evident from the facts just stated that the Black Kite is seen almost all over Italy, but nowhere with any degree of certainty; that it has been found breeding in some places, but always as a rare and isolated circumstance, except perhaps in the Roman Campagna Romagna, where it appears to occur with a certain regularity. In the present paper I shall make known a locality where the important phenomenon occurs of a real and constant breeding station of the Black Kite, which is resorted to every year by a number of pairs—quite a novel event in the history of our avifauna. This happens on an estate belonging to the noble and historical family of the Marquis of Canossa, i.e. in the wood of Grezzano, near Villafranca, in the Province of Verona. Vittorio dal Nero, a modest but conscientious and diligent observer, was the first to speak to me of this fact; and it is indeed strange that this has until now been unknown to the ornithologists of Italy—and particularly to those of Verona, Perini and De Betta—who have mentioned the breeding of the Black Kite at Grezzano as quite a casual fact. Here I desire to acknowledge my indebtedness to the Marquis of Canossa, of Verona, for his kindness in allowing me to go to Grezzano, for sending me some specimens, and for supplying me with information; I must likewise return thanks to the Rev. Don Pietro Carcereri. He is very fond of sport, and an intelligent observer and has diligently studied the habits and life-history of the Black Kite; he has sent me several notes, which I have found most useful. Grezzano wood is about an hour and a half's drive from