1 70 FALCONIFORxMES chap. 



is somewhat gregarious and sluggish, and feeds on offal, small 

 mammals, birds, reptiles, fish, amphibians, insects and their larvae. 

 The nest is a mass of sticks, rags, paper, and rubbish generally, 

 placed in a tree or rarely in a rock ; the three, or exceptionally 

 four, eggs being like those of the Buzzard, but duller and with 

 more lilac tints. Milvus migrans, the Black Kite, once recorded in 

 England, extends throughout Central and Southern Europe, and 

 probably to China, breeding in North-Western and migrating to 

 Southern Africa. The upper parts are dark brown, the under 

 parts rufous, and the head whitish, the two latter being streaked 

 with dusky; the bill is black and the tail moderately forked. 

 Barely separable from this bird are Milvus aegyptius of Africa, 

 Madagascar, South-East Europe, and West Asia, with yellow- 

 bill ; M. affinis, of Papuasia and Australia, possibly reaching 

 Ceylon ; M. melanotis, extending from India to Lake Baikal, 

 China, and Japan ; and the smaller 3f. govinda of somewhat 

 similar range. The third and fourth have a white patch beneath 

 the primaries. The last-named, or Pariah Kite, is the scavenger of 

 Hindostan, and is even bolder than its congeners ; the habits, 

 however, are similar, as are those of the Australian Loplioictinia 

 isiira, separated from Milvus on account of its square tail. This 

 species has a fine crest, and differs, moreover, in its browner crown 

 and greyer rectrices with whitish coverts. 



Gypoictinia melanosternon of Australia has a black head and 

 lower surface, chestnut occiput, nape, and thighs, and brownish- 

 or rufous-black upper parts, the wings and rounded tail being 

 marked with greyish white. Like a Kite in manners, it eats 

 snakes and lizards, and is said to destroy Bustard's and Emeu's 

 eggs.^ Elano'ides furcatus, the lovely Swallow-tailed Kite, caught 

 once in England, and ranging from the Middle United States 

 to Brazil, is black, with purple and green reflexions, white head, 

 neck, rump, inner secondaries and under parts, bluish bill and 

 feet. With splendid powers of wing, it may be seen gliding 

 rapidly through the air, skilfully quartering the ground, or 

 circling aloft with its long forked tail outspread, to perform 

 doublings and evolutions of every description. It catches bees 

 or other insects in one claw and eats them as it flies, or 

 snatches up a lizard, snake, or frog, to be devoured at leisure, 

 small birds and grubs varying the diet. Flocks are often seen, which 



^ Cf. North, Nests and Eggs o/Atistralian Birds, Sj-dney, 1889, pp. 11-13. 



