94 Mr. Bree's ' Birds of Europe 



naturalist will so treat it in extenso. But to return : — Mr. Bree 

 has made a singular, and, we fear we must say, a careless error 

 in asserting that this bird " is included by Schlegel in his ' Fauna 

 Japonica^ " — thereby implying that, on this eminent naturalist^s 

 authority, the species occurs in Japan; for the authors of that 

 work say nothing of the kind. They do indeed incidentally men- 

 tion (Faun. Jap., Aves, p. 16) " la Buse commune du Cap, Falco 

 tachardus de Shaw ou le Tachard de Levaillant, dont le Rougri 

 de Levaillant est Fadulte ;" but it is only to say of it that, though 

 it resembles the Japanese Buzzard in the conformation of its 

 feet, yet it is " d'une taille moins forte, et son plumage tire 

 fortement au roux a Fage adulte." 



Of the Black Kite [Milvus migrans, Bodd.) we have only to 

 remark that our author is in great error when he says that " it 

 is common in Japan, where it is known by the name of Tobi,'^ 

 &c. Now the Japanese species (called by Messrs. Temmiuck 

 and Schlegel M. melanotis) is the same as the common Indian 

 Govinda Kite {M. govinda, Sykes), and is, notwithstanding Mr. 

 Strickland's opinion (Orn. Syn. i. p. 134), by which we suspect 

 Mr. Bree to have been misled, altogether distinct from our Black 

 Kite — as any one may see, who will take the trouble to compare 

 the two. Therefore, though perfectly willing to admit the Japanese 

 themselves to all the privileges of European civilization, we must 

 protest against their '^ Tobies " being treated otherwise than as 

 aliens. Besides, as to the Black Kite being " w&cy common in 

 Abyssioia," and again, as our author has it, under the head of 

 the Arabian Kite {M. forskahli, Gmel.), " equally common at the 

 Cape of Good Hope " with that species, these are both statements 

 far from correct. The former, the Black Kite, only occurs in 

 Abyssinia as an occasional winter visitant, and is never met with 

 at the Cape, where its place is supjdiedby the more truly African 

 form. 



As to the Black-winged Kite [Elanus melanopterus, Leach), 

 the last of tlie birds we have to remark iipon, Mr. Bree makes 

 some inaccurate assertions. First, " It forms with its congener, 

 the North American * Swallow-tailed Kite,' which is in the 

 British list, the only representative of tlie genus Elanus of 

 Savigny ;" and, again, " It is found genei'ally distributed over 



