OWLS AND DIURNAL BIRDS OF PREY. ao 
Young birds are much streaked with pale buff on the head 
and lower parts, while the feathers of the back, secondaries, 
and tail are tipped with whitish. 
Bill black ; cere pale greenish ; iris brown ; legs and feet 
yellow or greenish. 
Males: length about 22°5; wing 17; tail 10°5; tarsus 
2-1; middle toe without claw 1:5; bill from gape 1:6. 
Females larger : length 23:5; wing 18. 
Distribution.—Confined to the sea coast in the north, from 
near Mannar to Trincomalee. It is apparently a partial 
migrant, especially on the north-east coast. It abounds all 
over the Indian Empire. A closely allied species inhabits 
Malaya and Australia. 
Habits, &c.—It is strange that a bird so common all over 
India has such a restricted range in Ceylon. With us it feeds 
on garbage and the leavings of the nets when the fishermen 
haul in their catch. It breeds in the north of Ceylon in the 
early part of the year. The nest is a loose mass of twigs 
mixed with old rags and grass and placed in a tree. Two eggs, 
occasionally three or four, are laid. The colour is pale 
greenish-white generally spotted and blotched with brown or 
reddish, but occasionally unmarked. Average size of eight . 
Ceylon eggs 2°08 by 1-55. 
ELANUS CHRULEUS (Blanford, Vol. III., p. 379; 
Legge, p. 85). 
The Black-winged Kite. 
Description.— Adult : Upper plumage ashy-gray, paler on 
the head ; fore-neck, a streak above the eye, the sides of the 
head, and all the lower parts white ; at times the fore-neck 
and flanks are tinged with pearl-gray; lores, eyebrow, 
median, and smaller wing coverts black ; primary quills dark 
ash-gray above and blackish below ; the central pair of tail 
feathers ash-gray, the rest white, tinged with gray on the 
outer webs. 
In young birds the feathers of the upper parts are brownish- 
ashy with pale edges ; the quills and tail feathers are tipped 
with white ; the throat, chest, and breast are tinged with buff. 
