216 THE tfooD OF BIRDS IN INDIA. 



India in the cold weather. Its food consists entirely of fish and it 

 is therefore injurious. 



Vulturidce. -The Vultures, of which we have nine species are to 

 be met with generally throughout India. They are the most useful 

 of scavengers. 



Falconidce. This family comprises the Eagles, Kites, Harriers, 

 Hawks, Buzzards and Falcons. 



Of the Eagles (11 genera), most occur in the plains, those few 

 recorded from hill tracts only being apparently rare birds. Many 

 species haunt plains and hill tracts alike, some preferring forests. 

 other large plains more or less open. One species only Haliaetus 

 leucogastris is found habitually on the coast. Most are more com- 

 monly met with in localities other than the South of the Penin- 

 sular, and some two or three species are winter visitors. 



Only five species of Kites are recorded. The Brahminy and 

 Pariah Kites are well-known throughout India, the Black-winged 

 Kite being not so commonly met with. They are exceedingly use- 

 ful as scavengers and from the stomach records appear beneficial 

 so far as their insect food is concerned. Inroads on chicken runs are 

 probably due to individual birds only, and then especially in the 

 breeding season. They can therefore be dealt with by the destruc- 

 tion of the individuals which habitually frequent poultry yards, by 

 preventing the birds from breeding in the neighbourhood of these 

 yards and by protecting the young chickens from attack. 



The Harriers Circus cineraceus, ceruginosus and macrurus 

 are of general occurrence, the last being a winter visitor ; cyanevs 

 occurs chiefly in the North-West, being replaced in the East by 

 melanoleucus. 



They are generally regarded as beneficial. 



Hawks. The Goshawk is confined to the Himalayas. The 

 ' ' Shikra ' ' is generally distributed, and, though some occur on the 

 plains, most other species are more frequently found in forest and 

 hill tracts. The Sparrow-hawk is a winter visitor to hill forest tracts 

 only These birds are probably mostly beneficial. 



