Birders, Last evening (7/26) at 20:15hrs I walked out of my Mystic house facing west. A dark bird was flying south and my first thought without looking was crow, as they tend to head in that direction at that time. I immediately noticed that it was smaller and more falconlike. I was without binoculars and could not see any feather detail - just a dark bird with sharp, falconlike wings and a long square tail slightly tapered at the end. The tail was about three times as long as the head. The bird changed directions in a bouyant, lazy flying manner about 40-50feet above ground level. My next thought was nighthawk, but the flight wasn't quick or snappy enough and the bird looked bigger than a nighthawk. The bird was apparently hawking insects. With the front earlier in the week, the yard has had a steady movement of dragonflies and other insects. My next thought was Rock Pigeon, but the flight wasn't right and the wings were longer and sharper looking than a pigeons would be. Peregrine was the next thought, as the bird had those proportions, but flight style was not quite right and the bird was much smaller than a peregrine. Merlin? Too big and again, wrong flight style. This bird really flew in a lazy, bouyant manner. I have seen Merlins hawk insects and they didn't act like this. Mississippi Kite? That is what I think. The bird flew about the yard and then disappeared behind the trees in the woods 100 yards to the west. I watched a bit longer and it came back along the wood edge just over the tree line. I decided to make a break for the binoculars. It was gone when I came back out. The bird was observed for 2-3 minutes. Basically, I saw a dark, falconlike bird; smaller than a crow and bigger than a Merlin or nighthawk; hawking insects in a bouyant, casual flight style. I wrote my impressions and then went through the guides. I feel pretty good that this was a Mississippi Kite. My only reservations are that I did not have binoculars and I have not seen a Mississippi Kite before. Glenn Williams Mystic, CT ____________________________________________________________________________________ Take the Internet to Go: Yahoo!Go puts the Internet in your pocket: mail, news, photos & more. http://mobile.yahoo.com/go?refer=1GNXIC