Mr. R. B. Sharpe's Catalogue of Accipitres. 83 



there^ consorting with some Red Kites {M. ictinus), till the 

 end of the following February. 



Judging from the particulars given by MM. AUeon and 

 Vian, I believe they are right in referring this interesting 

 specimen to M, melanotis ; but there is one passage in their 

 article on the subject respecting which I would offer a remark, 

 as I think that it requires some modification. Speaking of 

 their diagnosis of the specimen in question, MM. Alleon and 

 Vian observe, " Dans la Govinda, la plume presente une 

 meche fauve entre deux bandes brunes ; dans le Milan noir, 

 au contraire, c^est un trait brun qui descend sur la tige, entre 

 deux bordures fauves ;'' a similar statement also occurs at 

 p. 16 of ^Les Oiseaux de la Chine/ where MM. David and 

 Oustalet, after describing M. melanotis, add, " Dans lesjeunes 

 de Milvus ater c^'est le centre des plumes qui est fonce et le 

 bord clair.^^ I wish to point out that these descriptions of 

 the plumage of the young M. migrans do not hold good in 

 all cases ; for instance, in a nestling from Western Germany 

 which is preserved in the Norwich Museum they are applica- 

 ble to the feathers of the nape only, but not to those of any 

 other portion of the plumage. 



Before leaving the genus Milvus I may mention that Mr. 

 Sharpe, at p. 459 of the Addenda to his volume, inserts the 

 late Mr. Andersson's description of the Indian Kite for which 

 he proposed the specific name of '^ palustris." But this name 

 was withdrawn by its author in the P. Z. S. for 1875, p. 25, 

 where he writes that '^ it appears to be the young of the 

 common Govinda Kite, which is subject to considerable varia- 

 tion in size as well as in colour ;" and I therefore do not 

 think it needful to refer further to it. 



The square-tailed Kite of Australia, Milvus isurus, Gould, 

 was isolated by the late Professor Kaup in a distinct genus, 

 to which he assigned the name of " Lophoictinia." This 

 separation seems to me to have been made on somewhat 

 slender grounds ; but as it has been adopted by Mr. Sharpe, 

 it may perhaps now be considered as an accepted sub- 

 division. 



In the P. Z. S. for 1875, at p. 338, Mr. Sharpe gives a full 



