36 



U. S. p. K. R. EXP. AND SURVEYS— ZOOLOGY — GENERAL REPORT. 



Sub-Family MILVINAE.— The Kites. 



Size various, usually medium or small. General form usually rather slender and not strong ; wings and tail ufually long ; bill 

 short, weak, hooked, and acute ; tarsi and toes usually slender and not strong, sometimes short. The birds of this group habitually 

 feed on reptiles and other small animals, and arc deficient in the strength and courage of tho other groups of the falcons. 



NAUCLERUS, Vigors. 



JVaiic/enM, Vigors, Zool. Jour. II, j). 3e6, (1825.) 



Wings and tail very lon(r,the former pointed, the latter deeply forked. Bill short, but moderately strong; tarsi short ; toes short. 

 Contains three species — two American and one African. 



NAUCLEEUS FCECATUS, Linnaeus. 



Tiie Swallow- tailed Hawk. 



Fulco furcatus, Linn. Syst. Nat. I, 129, (176G.) 



FiGCEEs.— Catcsby Nat. Hist. Carolina, Birds, pi. 4 ; Buffon PI. Enl. 72 ; Wilson Am. Orn. VI, pi. 51, fig. 3 ; Aud. B. of 

 Am. pi. 72. Oct. cd. I, pi. 18 ; Gould E. of Eur. I, pi. 30 ; De Kay Nat. Hist. New York, Birds, pi. 7, fig. 15. 



Wings and tail long, the latter deeply forked. Head and neck, under wing coverts, secondary quills at their bases, and entire 

 under parts, white. Back, wings, and tail black, with a metallic lustre ; purple on the back and wing coverts ; green and blue 

 on other parts. Tarsi and toes greenish blue ; bill horn color. 



Total length, female, 23 to 25 inches ; wing, 16 to 17J inches ; tail, 14 inches. Male rather smaller. 



Hub. — Southern States on the Atlantic, and centrally northward to AVisconsin. Texas, (Mr. Audubon,) Wisconsin, (Dr. Hoy,) 

 Pennsylvania, (Mr. Kridor.) Accidental in Europe. Spec, in Nat. Mus., Washington, and Mus. Acad., Philadelphia. 



The most handsome of the North American hirds of this group^ and possessing very graceful 

 flight. It is ahundant in the southern States, and occasionally strays as far north as the 

 vicinity of Philadelpliia, a very fine specimen having been obtained this year (1857) near that 

 city by Mr. John Krider. 



List of specimens. 



ELANUS, Savigny. 



Elanus, Savicnt, Nat. Hist. Egypt I, p. 97, (1809.) 



Wingfl long, pointed ; tail moderate, cmarginaled ; tarsi short. Bill nhort, compressod, hooked. Sizo medium or small, and 

 general furin adapted to the capturo of roplileu, iuaouUi, and oilier doiuncoloBii animals. 



