RAPTORES. 55 



Sp. 24. ELANUS SCRIPTUS, Gould. 



Letter- WINGED Kite. 

 Elanus scriptus, Gould^ in Proc. of Zool. Soc, June 28, 1842. 



Elanus scriptus, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. i. pi. 24. 



The principal character by which the Elanus scriptus is 

 distinguished from the E. axillaris is the great extent of the 

 black mark on the under surface of the wing, which, following 

 the line of the bones from the body to the pinion, assumes 

 when the wing is spread the form of the letter V, or, if both 

 wings are seen from beneath at the same time, that of a W, 

 divided in the centre by the body, — which circumstance has 

 suggested the specific name I have applied to it. 



It will be admitted by every one that this new species is 

 an interesting addition to the Australian Falconida. Little 

 or nothing was known respecting it when I pubhshed my 

 figure in the folio edition of the ' Birds of Australia ' ; but 

 we now know that it is a denizen of the interior of the 

 country. Captain Sturt having obtained it at the Depot, and 

 Mr. White, of the Reed-beds, South Australia, informing me 

 that he found this species "in great numbers on Cooper's 

 Creek, between lat. 27° and 28°, always in companies of from 

 ten to twenty or thirty in number. It flies when near the 

 ground with a heavy flapping motion, but occasionally soars 

 very high, when its movements are very graceful. It is 

 rather inquisitive, but not so bold as Milvus affinis. It nests 

 in companies, as near each other as possible. The nest is 

 composed of sticks, lined with the pellets ejected from their 

 stomachs, which are principally composed of the fur of the 

 rats upon which they chiefly subsist. The eggs, which are 

 four or five in number, have a white ground, blotched and 

 marked with reddish brown, darkest at the smaller end ; they 

 are one inch and three-quarters long, by one inch and three- 

 eighths broad. The markings are easily removed by wetting." 



