78 Mr. J. H. Gurney^s Notes on 



patch; indeed I have seen no Ceylon specimens*, and but 

 one Indian, in which the white on this part was entirely 

 absent. The last-named specimen is preserved in the Norwich 

 Museum, and is, I think, certainly from India, though the 

 exact locality where it was obtained has unfortunately not 

 been recorded ; it measures in the wing 18 inches, and in the 

 tarsus 2 inches. 



Captain Legge, in his article on the Ceylon Kite {op. cit. 

 p. 81), in which the subject of the Indian Kites and their 

 southern and south-eastern allies is ably treated, considers 

 that the Ceylon bird belongs to a race not absolutely identical 

 either with the Australian Milvus or with the " ordinary 

 brown-plumaged bird of the plains of India." I think, how- 

 ever, that the smallest Indian specimens are not to be distin- 

 guished from those obtained in Ceylon f. An adult from 

 Jafna, in the Norwich Museum, measures in the wing but 

 17'1 inches, and two younger birds 16'6 ; the ordinary cor- 

 responding measurements of Ceylon specimens would seem, 

 however, to be somewhat greater, being quoted by Captain 

 Legge as ranging from 17*4 inches to 18*5, the latter measure- 

 ment being taken from a female bird. Some Indian Kites 

 are equally small, as will appear from the following dimen- 

 sions of four specimens in the Norwich Museum, all of which 

 are fully adult, except the last, which is nearly so : — 



Wing. Tarsus, 



in. in. 



India (exact locality unknown) .... 17-2 2 



Deccan, 17-5 2-25 



Calcutta 17-7 1-9 



S , Maunbhoom 16-9 2 



The Kite of Ceylon and the smallest Indian Kites appear, 

 in fact, to hold a position intermediate between the typical 

 M. affinis of Australia and the ordinary Indian Kite which 

 has for many years borne the specific name of " govinda" — 



* Captain Legge, however, in his description of the Kite of Ceylon, 

 speaks of " the amount of white varying much in individuals, some being 

 quite as dark as M. affinis" (vide 'Birds of Ceylon,' p. 81). 



t Captain Legge refers the Ceylon Kite to 31. govinda, Sykes, as having 

 " more affinity " with that species than with the typical M. affinis. 



