--From observations made in 1928 (Condor, xxxII, 1930, pp. 221-239) the writer estimated that there were possibly sixteen to twenty White-tailed Kites (Elanus leucurus mcjuscdus) in the Santa Clara Valley, located in four areas. This day (October 30, 1931) there can- not be more than two or three, and all too possibly none! From the four areas noted above, Kites have definitely gone from two, their presence in the third is improbable, and in the fourth there cannot be more than two and even these at this moment may no longer exist. Field work from the State College at San Jose carries competent bird observers frequently into nearly all the country from which Kites have ever been reported or in which Kites could possibly exist. Furthermore these observers are looking for Kites and therefore the records here given will be mournfully accurate as evidence of the passing of this most characterful bird from one of its last strongholds in the west. The last record of the White-tailed Kite, as listed in the publication cited above, was on January 25, 1930, in the Arroyo Calero, about ten miles south of San Jose. Birding trips have been made into this Arroyo not less than six times since, but no Kite has been observed. The breeding ground of 1928 in the Evergreen region, a locality that had three known nests and at least eight birds at that time, was revisted for the first time on February 16, 1930--no Kites! The same region was visited again on April 15, 1930--again no Kites! On September 6, 1930', this region was visited yet again, with the same result. On this occasion Mr. Earland Whaley, a relative of the owner of the property, reported that a single Kite was observed here in 1929, but that none was noted on the nesting grounds. Visits on several occasions in 1931 have all fur- hisbed the same sad news--no Kites. A prolonged and careful birding trip into the region of Loyola Corners and the Los Altos Country Club, and the hills south of Los Altos, a region that has given Kite records on many other occasions, failed to show an individual on March 22, 1930, and no records have since come from there. Two students of mine reported a White-tailed Kite flying over the San Benito River south of Gilroy on May 2, 1930. No. records have come from there since and personal journeys through this region have not shown Kites. One region only remains in which Kite records have been made with reasonable regularity. This is the valley area lying between San Jose and the Bay. Here Kites have been recorded as follows: March 22, 1930, a single individual; May 22 to June 13, 1930, Kites frequently seen, once three individuals (reported by Alfred Kopp); August 30, 1930, two individuals; September 9 and 14, 1930, two individuals (re- ported by Albert Ross McDonald); Deeember 20, 1930, four individuals (reported by Emily Smith); May 16, 1931, one individual (reported by Wallace Brierly); July 28, 1931, two individuals; October 3, 1931, one individual (reported by H. G. Hill). These reports of 1931 undoubtedly refer to a single pair of Kites. And so, from a possible sixteen to twenty Kites in 1928, we are forced to estimate that for the entire valley there are now probably not more than two. There are a few faint rays of hope. First of all, Earland Whaley tells me that the season of 1928 was the first that Kites occupied the area where the several nests of that year were located. They were absent from that vicinity the following year. Can it be that Kites move about in their semi,communal breeding habits and that they now are occupying some foothill region away from roads and observing eyes? The hope is faint. Again that region of the Santa Cruz Mountains that lies to he south- west of Los Altos, a region once favored by Kites, could be more thoroughly explored. Perhaps Kites may still be there. What has taken the Kites? Between 1928 and 1931 there can have been no marked increase in gunners in this fully settled region. There has been no alteration of breed- ing habitats. There is therefore no conclusive evidence, though this point of more than passing interest should be made. The Kites have disappeared from the hills and are persisting in the single lower valley region previously occupied by them. It would seem that the destructive factor lies in the foothills. At the risk of reasoning that may be but remotely circumstantial if not entirely fallacious, one may mention that there are no squirrels to be poisoned in the lower valley, but formerly there were many in the foothills. Can there be a relation between the poisoning of the California ground squirrel and the passing of the White-tailed Kite?AYLE PICKWELL, Stcte Co.lleg, Sc Jose, Califorrda, October 30, 1931.