Mississippi Kite

Mississippi Kite
Ictinia plumbeus [now Ictinia mississippiens]
Octavo edition, plate 17

“When clouds of anxious Swallows, returning from the far south, are guiding millions of Warblers to their summer residence; when numberless insects, cramped in their hanging shells, are impatiently waiting for the full expansion of their wings; when the vernal flowers, so welcome to all, swell out their bursting leaflets, and the rich-leaved Magnolia opens its pure blossoms to the Humming-bird; -- then look up, and you will see the Mississippi Kite, as he comes sailing over the scene.”

John James Audubon, Birds of America (New York: J.J. Audubon; Philadelphia: J. B. Chevalier, 1840-1844), vol. 1, p. 73-74.

View bird in National Audubon Society Guide to North American Birds.

A specimen of this species, collected by Audubon, is housed within the collections of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.