RAPTORES. 51 



wliich is slightly forked, brown, crossed by several indistinct 

 bars of a darker tint, and each feather tipped with greyish 

 white; throat brownish fawn-colour, with the stem of each 

 feather black; the remainder of the under surface rufous 

 brown, with a central line of dark brown on each feather, 

 which is broadest and most conspicuous on the chest ; cere, 

 gape, and base of the lower mandible yellow ; upper mandible 

 and point of the lower black ; tarsi and toes yellow ; claws 

 black ; irides very dark brown. 



Sp. 22. MILVUS ISURUS, Gould. 



Square-tailed Kite. 



Milvus isuruSy Gould, in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part v. (1837) p. 140. 

 Ge-durn-mul-uk and Mar-arl, Aborigines of the mountain districts of 



Western Australia (Gilbert). 

 Kite of the Colonists. 



jyrilvus isurus, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. i. pi. 22. 



This species, although possessing the short feet, long wings, 

 and other characters of the true Kites, particularly of the 

 Milvus regalis of the British Islands, may at once be distin- 

 guished from that bird by the square form of its tail. I met 

 with it in various parts of New South Wales, both in the 

 wooded districts near the coast and on the plains bordering 

 the interior ; still it is by no means abundant, and persons who 

 had been long resident in the colony knew but little about it. 

 I had, however, the good fortune, in one instance, to find its 

 nest, from which I shot the female. I have received two 

 specimens from Swan River, and Mr, Gurney states that it 

 also inhabits New Zealand. It is a true Kite in all its 

 manners, at one time soaring high above the trees of the 

 forest, and at others hunting over the open wastes in search 

 of caterpillars, reptiles, and young birds. 



The nest, which I found near Scone on the Upper Hunter, 



E 2 



