80 Mr. J. H. Gurney's Notes on 



lowing terms by MM. David and Oustalet at p. 17 of their 

 recent work on the Birds of China : — "" Le Milan govinda, 

 qui est tres-abondamment repandu dans toute FInde, est 

 anssi fort commun dans la Malaisie et la Cochin-Chine ; de 

 \k il arrive assez frequemment jusque dans la Chine meri- 

 dionale^ o^ je Vsa rencontre plusieurs fois ; mais cette espece 

 est rare sur la cote chinoise et en est toujours chassee par 

 la concurrence victorieuse du grand Milan indigene '' {M. 

 melanotis) . 



The late Mr. Swinhoe, at p. 88 of 'The Ibis' for 1870, 

 referred the Kite he met with in Hainan to M. govinda, and 

 gave the wing-measurement of a male as 17'8 inches, with 

 some further particulars showing the distinction between it 

 and the Kite of Northern China. An adult female brought 

 by Mr. Swinhoe from Hainan is preserved in the Nor^vich 

 Museum, and appears to me to be also an example of the 

 intermediately sized Kite to which, following the example of 

 Mr. Swinhoe, Mr. Sharpe, and Mr. Hume, I have applied 

 the specific name of govinda ; this specimen has a Aving- 

 measurement of 18' 9 inches. 



Mr. Sharpe is, in my opinion, unquestionably correct in 

 identifying Milvus major of India with M. melanotis of Japan, 

 Formosa, and China. I have examined a considerable num- 

 ber of specimens from all these localities, and can detect no 

 difference between examples from these different localities, 

 either as regards the extent of white under the wing (a some- 

 what variable characteristic*), or in any other particular. 



Some specimens of M. melanotis exhibit hardly any rufous 

 tint, whilst in others it is conspicuous, especially about the 

 neck, interscapular region, and lesser wing-coverts. The 

 most rufous specimen I have seen is a female from Japan in 

 the Leyden Museum, which is the original of the second plate 

 of this species in the ' Fauna Japonica,' the preceding plate 

 (No. 5) being an excellent representation of this Kite in its 

 non-rufous phase. 



I am indebted to the kindness of Lord Tweeddale for the 



* Cf. Mr. Brooks's remarks on this point in ' Stray Feathers ' for 1875 

 p. 275. 



