352 SPOLIA ZEYLANICA. 
Young birds are lighter brown, the feathers with pale edges ; 
head light brown with pale shaft-lines ; fore-neck and breast 
with broad white shaft-stripes; wing quills barred with 
smoky-brown above and whitish underneath ; the white 
upper surface of the tail much mottled. 
Bill dark horny, bluish at the base ; cere lead colour ; iris 
clear yellow, at times mottled with brown, or tinged with red ; 
legs and feet whitish. 
Males : length 24°5; wing 17°25; tail 9°75; tarsus 3°5; 
mid-toe without claw 2°3; bill from gape 1°85. 
Females rather larger: length 27; wing 18. 
Distribution.—Found mainly in the northern half of the 
Island on coastal lagoons and estuaries, or inland on rivers 
and village tanks. It occurs in India eastwards of Delhi 
and throughout Burma to Malaya and the Archipelago. 
Habits, &:c.—A pair of these birds may usually be seen on 
jungle-girt village tanks of any size in the northern and 
eastern forest tracts. It is also fairly common round well- 
wooded shores of lagoons and estuaries. It feeds largely on 
fish, for which it watches from a perch on a tall tree near the 
water, swooping out now and then for short flights, but 
seldom soaring or staying on the wing for any very long period. 
The cry is a deep resonant “ kyaw ”’ repeated several times. 
The birds are frequently noisy early in the morning long 
before it is light. The breeding season is about Christmas 
time. The nest is a huge platform of sticks in a large tree. 
Two eggs are laid, grayish-white in colour, and measuring 
about 2°68 by 2°09. 
Group IIT.—Kites. 
The Kites and their allies form a group distinguished by 
their long, pointed wings and distinctly short tarsi, which are 
feathered for about halfway down or a little more. The bill 
is moderate with a distinct festoon, less prominent in the 
true Kites—Milvus—than in the other genera. The toes and 
claws are shortish. 
There are three Ceylon species, two of medium and one of 
small size. Hach is placed in a separate genus. Haliastur— 
the Brahminy Kite—forms a connecting link between the 
-Sea Eagles and the true Kites. 
