-if 



88 Mr. R. Swinhoe on the Ornithology of Hainan. 



12. Circus cyaneus (Linn.). 



Seen on the plain at Lingsuy, between the lagoon and the city. 



13. MiLvus GoviNDA, Sykes. 



There was something in the manner and appearance of tlie 

 Kite, which was abundant everywhere in Hainan, that struck 

 me as different from the China species. I took the following 

 note from a fresh-shot male : — " Iris bright chestnut. Cere yel- 

 low ; gape bluish-white. Bill brownish-black towards tij) ; ni- 

 side of mouth bluish. Feet pale bluish-grey, lightly tinged 

 with yellow j claws ink-black. Length nearly 24 inches ; wing 

 17"8 ; tail 12 inches. From tip of wing to tip of tail 1 inch." 



The Chinese bird has the iris hazel-ochrey and has but the 

 slightest touch of yellow on the cere (c/l Ibis, 1867, p. 410). 

 Dr. Jerdon unfortunately does not not give the colour of tlie 

 iris and cere in M. govinda of India. The Hainan Kite may be 

 identical with the Indian bird, while the Chinese race seems to 

 to hold a place intermediate between M. govinda and M. mela- 

 notis of Japan, the specimens from Peking being larger and 

 more affine to the latter. 



14. Ephialtes lettia (Hodgs.). 



While shooting Squirrels among a clump of trees and bushes 

 on a slope under the north wall of the capital, just before dusk, 

 at the report of my gun out bounced a small Owl, and perched 

 on a partly exposed bough, raising his horns to the utmost, and 

 uttering a harsh cat-like cry, of a nature likely to alarm one 

 at night. On shooting it, I found it to be one of the lempiji 

 group of Owls with dark iris. I met no more of the species. 



" c? • Bill pale yellowish horn-colour. Iris deep bi'own. Feet 

 light greyish-brown. No white about the face as in E. semi- 

 torques (T. & S.) of Japan and China. 



"Length 9*25; wing 6*2; tail3'4; tip of wing to tip of tail '6." 



I took the above note from the fresh bird. It answers best 

 to the E. lettia of Hodgson, with which Messrs. Wallace and 

 Blyth have identified my specimen. 



15. NiNOX JAPONICUS (T. & S.). 



This is the only other Owl we came across in Hainan. On 

 the 29th March, at Haosuy (N.W. Hainan), we disturbed a pair 



