ACCIPiTRES. 241 



MiLVus, Bechstein. 



The Kites have short tarsi, and weak toes and nails, which, added 

 to a beak equally disproportioned to their size, render them the 

 most cowardly species of the whole genus ; they are distinguished 

 by their excessively long wings, and their forked tail, which give 

 them great powers of flight. 



Some of them have very short tarsi, which are reticulated and half 

 invested with feathers above, like the last small tribe of eagles (the 

 Elanus, Savigny). Such are, 



Falco melanoptenis, DsLud.', Le Blac, Sav, Eg. Ois. pi. 2, f. 2 ; 

 Vaill. Afr. xxxvi and xxxvii ; Bonap. Am. II, xi, 1. As large 

 as a Sparrowhawk ; plumage soft and silky ; tail but slightly 

 forked ; cinereous above ; white beneath; the small wing coverts 

 blackish : the young is brown, varied with fawn colour. This 

 bird is common from Egypt to the Cape, and appears to be 

 found in India, and even in America. (1) Insects are almost its 

 only game. 



F.furcatus, L. ; The fork-tailed Kite, Catesb. iv ; Wils. li, 2 ; 

 Vieillot, Am. 10. White ; wings and tail black ; the two exter- 

 nal quills of the latter very long ; larger than the preceding. 

 It attacks reptiles. (2) 



Kites, properly so called, 



Have stronger and scutellated tarsi. 



F. milvusj L.J Milan commun, Enl. 422 ; Naum. 31, f. 1. Fawn 

 coloured j quills of the wings, black ; tail, red j of all the birds 

 of Europe this remains longest and most tranquilly on the wing. 

 It usually attacks nothing but reptiles. (3) 



Col. 86 ; Falco columbarius, Catesb. 4, Vieill. Am, pi. 2 and Wils. II. xv, 3 ; 

 Ep. tachiro, Vaill. Afr. 24, {F. iachiro, Daud.) Col. 377 and 420; F. cuculoides, 

 Temm. Col. 110 and 129 ,F. xanthothorax, T. Col. 92 ; F. virgatus, T. Col. 

 109; jf^. brachipterus, T. Col. 14 and 116, or F. concentricus, Illig.; F. pileatus, Pr. 

 Max. Col. 205 ; F. gymnogenys. Col. 307; F. pennsylvanicus, Wils. VI, xlvi, 1 ; 

 very different from the Goshawk so called. Id. pi. liv, and the young-, col. 67 ; F. 

 velox, Wils. VI, xlv, 1, is the young' female of it, according to Charles Bonap.; 

 F. lineatus, Wils. VI, liii, 3 ; F. hiemalis, Wils. IV, xxxv, 1 iF. striatus, 

 Vieill. Am. pi. 14 iF. niger, Vieill. Gal. 22. See Append. XIII of Am. Ed. 



(1) This we consider a mistake of our author; it has never been found in this 

 country. The bird alluded to has been ascertained by Temminck to be a distinct 

 species, and is called by him F. dispar. Am. Ed. 



(2) Add the F. riocourii, Vieill. Col. 85; the Irregular-tailed Kite, (F. dispar, 

 Tem.) Col. 319. 



(3) Add the Parasite, Vaill. Afr. 22, or the Milan noir, Enl. 472, Naum. 31, f. 

 2 ; Savigny, Eg. Ois. pi. iii, f. 1, is the Falc. ater, F. aegyptius, and the Falc Pors- 



VoL. I 2 F 



