FALCONID^ 



BLANUS 341 



Iris cherry-red to bright orange ; bill black ; cere and gape dull 

 yellow ; legs yellow ; claws black. 



Length (in flesh) 12-0; wing 10-10; tail 4-75; culmen 0-90; 

 tarsus 1-20. 



The male resembles the female but is generally a little smaller, 

 though the difference in size is not so marked as in most accipitrine 

 birds. 



The young bird is ashy-brown above, the head and neck striped 

 with white and the feathers of the back and wings tipped with the 

 same colour ; below, the white breast and flanks are marked with 

 brown shaft stripes. Iris light brown. 



Distribution. — This Kite is found everywhere throughout Africa, 

 including Madagascar,^ from Algeria and Tunis to Cape Colony. It 

 extends into south-eastern Europe and south-west Asia, reaching 

 India and Burma. 



Fig. 116. — Elanus cceruleus. x Va- 



Within our limits it is fairly common everywhere. The follow- 

 ing are some of the principal recorded localities : Cape Colony — 

 Cape div. (Layard), Stellenbosch, Worcester (S. A. Mus), Knysna, 

 Oudtshoorn (Victorin), Grahamstown (Stark), East London (Eickard 

 and Wood), Port St. John's (S. A. Mus.), Orange river (Bradshaw), nr. 

 Mafeking (Holiib) ; Natal — Common throughout from Newcastle to 

 Durban (Reid) ; Orange River Colony— Kroonstad(Symonds) ; Trans- 

 vaal — Rustenburg (Barratt), Potchefstroom (S.A. Mus.); Mashona- 

 land (only observed by Ayres) ; German south-west Africa — Omaruru 



Milne Edwards, Comptes Eendus, xci, p. 1036 (1880). 



