ELANOIDESi. — MILVUS. 



283 



shajic and have no gloss. They are dull white, spotted and blotched 

 ■with rufous or 3-ellowish brown, chiefly at one end. They measure 

 from 2-03 to 2-4-1 in length, and from 1-6 to 1-75 in breadth. 



1. Australia. Gould Coll. 



2. Queensland. Crowley Bequest. 

 2. New South Wales. Gould Coll. 



2. Lachlan River, N.S.SV., 9th Sept. Crowley Bequest. 

 {A.J. North). 



1. Victoria, 1st Oct. {E. P. Spyiiwur). Crowley Bequest. 



Genus ELANOIDES, Vieill. 



Elanoides furcatus {Linn.). 



Nauclerus forticatus, Buird, Brexccr Si- likJqic. K. Amer. Birds, iii. p. 192 



(1874). 

 Elauoides furcatus, Sharpe, Cat. Birds B. 31. i. p. 317 (1874) ; Seebohm, 



Brit. Birds, i. p. (!3, pi. 6 ( 1883) ; id. Eyi/s of Brit. Birds, p. 10, 



pi. o. iigs. 5 & (189(5) ; Sharpe, Haud-l. i. p. 268 (1899). 

 Elanoides forticatus, Bmdire, Life-Hist. N. Amer. Birds, i. p. 168, pi. v. 



tig's. 1 & 2 (1892); von Ihering, Rev. Mus. I'atdista, iv. p. 271 



(1900). 



The eggs of the Fork-tailed Kite vary from a blunt oval to 

 an elliptical shape, and have no gloss. They are creamy white, 

 spotted and blotched with ferruginous or chocolate-brown. In one 

 specimen the markings are evenly disposed over the whole shell ; 

 but in others one half is much more densely marked than the other. 

 Five examples measure respectively: 1-82 bj^ 1-43; l'S7 bv 1*45; 

 1-9 by 1-51 ; 1-76 by 1-48 ; 1-8 by 1-5. 



2. Giddings, Lee Co., Texas, 28th April Crowley Bequest. 



(/. R. Rimjlni). 

 2. Giddings, 5lh May (J. R. R.). Crowley Bequest. 



1. Brazil. Old Collection. 



Genus MILVUS, Cuvier. 



The eggs of the six species of Kites arc well represented in the 

 Collection, and it is obvious that they cannot be separated by any 

 character of size, shape, or colour. It is therefore unnecessary to 

 attempt to describe the eggs of each species separately. 



In shape they are either regular ovals or ellipses, but sometimes 

 they are spheroidal and occasionally pyriform. The shell is fairly 

 smooth, and is almost entirely without gloss. With regard to the 

 coloration, Mr. Hume, with a very large series before him, thus 

 describes the eggs of M. govinda : — " As regards the eggs themselves, 

 the countless variety of types of coloration which they exhibit defy 

 description. I have before me now specimens absolutely devoid of 

 any trace of colour, which might well stand for gigantic specimens 

 of liuta.ttnr teesa, but these of course are very exceptional ; I have 

 only t-Mo such in a series of several hundreds. The ground-colour 

 is almost invariably a pale greenish or greyish-white, more or less 



