354 SPOLIA ZEYLANICA. 
more local in the south of the Island and the Western 
Province, and only a straggler in the hills. 
It occurs throughout the Indian Empire, except in the dry 
districts and hill forests. It ranges eastwards to China and 
south-east to the Malay Peninsula. Closely allied forms are 
met with in the Malay Archipelago and Australia. 
Habits, &c.—This, with us, is the commonest species of the 
group, and takes the place of the true Kites in acting as a 
general scavenger of garbage. It is, however, seldom met 
with far from water, and its food consists largely of fish, frogs, 
and crabs. On the coast it is generally seen near towns, large 
villages, and fishing stations. Inland it is a familiar sight 
round tanks and over paddy fields. It is continually on the 
wing, soaring and wheeling at a considerable height. The 
cry is a peculiar, rather dreary squeal. The breeding season 
begins about Christmas, with apparently a second brood about 
June. The nest is a structure of twigs, somewhat larger than 
a crow’s nest, and placed in much the same positions. The two 
or three eggs are grayish-white, generally scantily speckled 
or dotted with faded reddish-brown. They measure about 
1-95 by 1-62. 
MILvus GOvINDA (Blanford, Vol. III., p. 374 ; 
Legge, p. 80). 
The Pariah Kite. 
Description.—Adult : Head and neck slightly tawny-brown 
with dark shaft-stripes ; a patch of unstreaked brown on the 
ear coverts ; back a more uniform, deeper, and slightly glossy- 
brown ; the medium wing coverts lighter, with dark shaft- 
stripes ; wing quills the same colour as the back, except the 
longer primaries, which with their coverts are blackish ; the 
inner secondaries are paler, and bear traces of dark brown 
crossbars ; all the quills are mottled with whitish on the 
concealed parts of the inner webs ; tail brown above, whitish- 
brown below, with faint dark bars. The lower parts are paler 
brown than the back ; the chin whitish ; abdomen and lower 
tail coverts generally tinged with rufous ; the whole marked 
with dark shaft-stripes. 
