92 



BDBONID^. 



mandible slightly sinuate. Cere small ; nostrils oval. Loreal space 

 feathered. Wings reaching to end of tail^ pointed ; 2nd quill longest ; 

 the 1st emarginate near the tip. Tail short. Tarsi short, plumed above, 

 covered with small round scales. Middle claAv keeled. 



Elanus cseruleus, Besf. Mem. Acad. B. des Science, p. 503, pi. 15. 

 Falco melanopterus, Baud. Traite, ii. i. p. 152; Bree, Birds Eur. i. p. 

 108. Elanus melanopterus, Leach, Zool. Misc. p. 5; Jerd. Birds of Ind. 

 i. p. 112, No. 59 ; Sharpe, P. Z. S. 1 869^ p. 670 ; Hume, Bough Notes, 

 ii. p. 21 ; Str. F. i. pp. 21, 163; Murray, Zool., &-c.,Sind. p. 117. — 

 The Black-v^ikged Kite. 



Adult. — Entire upper parts ashy grey, lighter on the head ; fore- 

 head, eyebrow, lores and. sides of face white ; ear-coverts ashy grey ; 

 supercilium dark broAvn or black; lesser and median w^iug-coverts and 

 winglet glossy black ; greater coverts concolourous with the back. 

 Axillaries and under wing-coverts white ; inner lining of wing dark 

 grey ; primary coverts and quills ashy grey, the latter white at the 

 base and black-shafted. Tail ftshy, the two centre feathers greyish ; 

 entire under parts white. Cere, orbits, and feet yellow ; bill black; 

 irides crimson. 



Length. — 13 inches, wing 10'6 to 11, tail 5*6, tarsus 1'4. 



Hah. — South Eastern Europe, Africa, India and Ceylon. A^ery 

 widely distributed. Recorded from Egypt, Gambia, Transvaal, South 

 Africa, and the Mediterranean ; also from Kutch, Kattiawar, Jodhpore, 

 Sambhur, North Guzerat, the Concan and Deccan, Pegu, Burmah and 

 Nepaul. 



It is a resident in Sind, and affects chiefly the acacia forests lining 

 the banks of the Indus. Breeds in the Narra districts from June to 

 August. 



SUB ORDER,— STRIGES. 



Outer toes reversible; eyes encircled by a facial disk; nostrils 

 generally covered wholly or in part, by stiff bristles. 



Family, BUBONID^. 



Forehead furnished with tw^o long tufts ; ear orifice small. Tarsi 

 stout, generally plumed. Middle toe longer than the inner one. 



Sub-Family, BUB ON IN^E,— Eagle akd Scops Owls. 

 Ear conch without an operculum. 



Gen. Ketupa. — Lesson. 



Bill large, strong, straight at base, moderately compressed andhooked. 

 Wings not reaching to end of tail ; 4th quill longest ; tarsi naked, 

 reticulate. 



Ketupa ceylonensis, Gmel. Sys. Nat. i. p. 287; Gray, Gen. 

 Birds,!, p. 38; Jerd. Birds of Ind. i. p. 133, No. 72; Hnme, 

 Bough Notes, ii. p. 379; Sir. F. i. p. 431, ii. p. 469; Sharpe, Cat. 

 Striges,i^. 4; Murray , Hdhk., Zool, .^x., Sind, p. 119.— The Brown 

 Fish-Owl. 



