FALCONID^ ELANUS 339 



M. cBgyptius the grey is confined to the chin and throat, the edges 

 of the crown and nape feathers remaining rufous-brown. In addi- 

 tion to this the bill in the present species is black not yellow. 



The young birds of the two species cannot be satisfactorily 

 distinguished as the bill is black in both. 



DistrihUion. — The Black Kite is found in central and south- 

 eastern Asia and southern Europe, migrating in winter to Africa. 

 It is very doubtful whether it extends its range to our area, as 

 most of the birds obtained in South Africa appear to be really only 

 young specimens of Milvus agyptius. Mr. Gurney, who has in- 

 vestigated this point with much care, has only seen one undoubted 

 South African example of Milvus korscJmn ; this was obtained by 

 Andersson at Ondonga in Ovampoland. 



Genus XVII. ELANUS. 



Tyjje. 

 Elanus, Savigny, Syst. Ois. Egypte, pp. 9, 37 (1810) E. caeruleus. 



Bill with rounded culmen, which is longer than half the middle 

 toe without claws ; lores with bristles which partially cover but do 

 not conceal the nostrils ; these are horizontal ovals ; wings long and 

 pointed as in Milvus ; tail square or but very slightly forked ; tarsus 

 feathered in front nearly to the base of the toes, the bare portion 

 being less than the middle toe without claw and covered with smc«ll 

 polygonal scales. 



This genus of Kites is spread over the whole of Africa, southern 

 Asia, Austraha, the southern portion of North and the whole of 

 South America, and altogether about five species are recognised. 

 Only one, here described, has been found in Africa. 



536. Elanus caeruleus. Black- slwuldered Kite. 



Falco caeruleus, Dcsf. Minn. Acad. E. des Sciences, 1787, p. 503, pi. 15. 



Le Blac, Levaillnnt, Ois. d'Afr. i, p. 147, pis. 36, 37 (1799). 



Falco melanopterus, Baud. Traite ii, p. 152 (1800). 



Elanus melanopterus, Smith, S. Afr. Quart. Journ. i, p. 389 (1830) ; 



Orill, K. Vet. Akad. Handl. Stockholm, ii, no. 10, p. 49 (1858) 



[Knysna] ; Qurney, Ibis, 1859, p. 240 [Natal] ; Layard, B. S. Afr. p. 



26 (1867). 

 Elanus caeruleus, Gurney in Anderssoii'' s B. Bamaraland, p. 20 (1872) ; 



Sharpe, Cat. B. M. i, p. 336 (1874) ; Buckley, Ibis, 1874, p. 360 [Natal] • 



