44 Capt. G. E. Shelley on Egyptian Ornithology. 



which I brought home, were simply immature birds, and may 

 therefore have belonged to either species. The bill of the young 

 M. (sgyptius is black, and changes to yellow with age. This has 

 been satisfactorily shown by three live specimens which Mr. 

 Cavendish Taylor brought back from Egypt, and which are now 

 in the Zoological Society's Gardens. So a black bill is not alone 

 a criterion of the species to which such Kites belong. 



Dr. A. L. Adams states (Ibis, 18G4, p. 9) that this is the 

 most abundant Kite iu Egypt, which is undoubtedly an error, 

 probably arising from .his having considered all the black- 

 billed Kites he saw as belonging to this species. 



26. Elanus melanopterus (Daud.). Black - shouldered 

 Hawk. 



This Hawk is very abundant throughout Egypt, and by no 

 means shy. It generally frequents the Acacia trees, but T have 

 rarely seen more than a pair in the same clump. 



They begin breeding in February. On the I2th of March, 

 at Golosaneh, we found one of their nests containing four young 

 birds; it was placed near the top of a tall Acacia in the midst 

 of a clump of those trees. The young were of a pale ash-colour, 

 considerably darker on the back and top of the head, where the 

 feathers were mostly tipped with brown ; the chest was of a pale 

 brown. On the 19th of April I obtained a handsome young 

 bird in fine immature plumage : it differs from the adult in the 

 grey feathers of the back and head being tipped with white, and 

 in the soft brown shade upon the chest, where the centres of 

 some of the feathers are marked with longitudinal spots of rufous 

 brown. The irides of this specimen were hazel, while in the 

 adult they are of a brilliant red-currant colour, and in the nest- 

 lings of a dark brown. 



In 1868 I found two nests, each containing four eggs, which 

 I have already noticed (Ibis, 1870, p. 150). During my last 

 tour I found two more of these nests, one near Sioot, on the 

 17th of ]\Iarch, in a scattered Acacia clump. The nest, like the 

 former ones, was placed near the top of the tree, and contained 

 one egg very similar to the paler ones taken in 18G8, but of a 

 rather more painted nppearancc. The other nest I took at 



