Jeff Wilson correctly queried about the "smudgy eye-stripe" I reported on the Swallow-tailed Kite (Tennessee River, Route 30, near Dayton) on August 11. Sorry, been in Mexico for the past 17 days. The head was almost pure white but there was a smudgy area extending along a line from the bill to just behind the eye. Stripe is an exaggeration, I think. The discoloration was somewhere between the Kaufman illustation (page 115) and the photo at this link: http://www.charleston.net/org/sccbp/kite_survey.html However, it nearly noon and perhaps the shape of the bird's head caused a shadow or accentuated the discoloration (Or he'd been feasting on something and mussed his face). =================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER===================== The TN-Bird Net requires you to sign your messages with first and last name, city (town) and state abbreviation. ----------------------------------------------------- To post to this mailing list, simply send email to: tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx ----------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, send email to: tn-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society web site at http://www.tnbirds.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * TN-Bird Net Owner: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx (423) 764-3958 =========================================================