174 Allen's naturalist's library. 



occurrence of the common Black-winged Kite in Ireland 

 appears to be beyond question, it is given a place in the pre- 

 sent work, for what it is' worth. Like all Kites, the members 

 of the genus Elanus have the feet bare, and further show that 

 they are Kites and not Eagles by having the oblique nostril 

 which is one of the features of the Milvine section of the 

 Sub-family Aquilince. At the same time they approach the 

 True Falcons in appearance, and more especially the Honey- 

 Kites in their soft feathering, that peculiar " feel " of plumage 

 which distinguishes this small group of Hawks to the student, 

 and enables him to recognise the Falconine Kites. To this 

 group of Accipitrine Birds belong the South America genera 

 Rosthramus and Leptodon, as well as Gaiiipsonyx, and the 

 Old World genera Gypoictinia^ Elanus, Henicopernis, Machce- 

 rhamphus, and Fernis. Of these Falconine Kites perhaps the 

 most interesting is Machcerhamphus, of which the species are 

 so rare in museums that certainly less than twenty examples 

 are as yet known. They are crepuscular birds, coming out in 

 the twilight and feeding on bats, edible swifts, and other 

 night-flying animals. These curious black Perns are found in 

 Southern and Eastern Africa and Madagascar, and then the 

 genus re-appears in Southern Tenasserim, Malacca, Borneo, 

 and New Guinea. The genus Elanus is represented in every 

 portion of the tropical globe, and is absent only in the tem- 

 perate parts of the Palcearctic and the Nearctic Regions, as well 

 as in Oceania. 



I. THE BLACK-SHOULDERED KITE. ELANUS C.^RULEUS. 



Falco cceruleus, Desf. Mem. Acad. Sci. Paris, 17 87, p. 503, pi. 



Elanus ccxruleus, Leach ; Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. i. p. 2,2^6 

 (1874); Dresser, B. Eur. v. p. 663, pi. 363 (1875); B. O. 

 \J. List Br. B. p. 100 (18S3); Saunders, Ivlan. Brit. B. p. 

 328, note (1889). 



Adult Male — General colour above blue-grey, the head paler ; 

 forehead and eyebrow, lores and sides of face, white ; the ear- 

 coverts washed with grey ; feathers round the eye black ; lesser 

 and median wing-coverts black, the greater series blue-grey ; 



