

ELANUS LEUCURUS. 71 



L 303. ELANUS LEUCURUS (VieilL). 

 (WHITE-TAILED KITE.) 



Elanus leucurus, Scl et Sale. Nomencl p. 121 ; iid. P. Z. S. 18G9, p. 1GC 

 (Buenos Ayres) ; Durnford, Urn, 1877, p. 188 (Buenos Ayres); White, 

 P. Z. S. 1882, p. 623 (Buenos Ayres) ; Burrows, Auk, 1884, p. Ill (Entre- 

 rios) ; During, Exp. al Rio Negro, p. 50 (Pampas) ; Sharpe, Cat. B. i. p. 339; 

 Withington, Ibis, 1888, p. 470 (Lomas de Zamora). 



Description. Above grey ; lesser wing-coverts and scapulars black ; tail 

 white, two central rectrices grey : beneath white ; bill black ; feet yellow ; 

 claws yellow: whole length 14-5 inches, wing 11-0, tail 7'0. Female similar, 

 but rather larger. 



Hab. Central aud South America. 



This interesting Hawk is found throughout the Argentine Republic, 

 but is nowhere numerous. It also inhabits Chili, where, Gay says, it is 

 called Bailarin (dancer) on account of its aerial performances. It is a 

 handsome bird, with large ruby-red irides, and when seen at a distance its 

 snow-white plumage and buoyant flight give it a striking resemblance to 

 a gull. Its wing-power is indeed marvellous. It delights to soar, like 

 the Martens, during a high wind, and will spend hours in this sport, 

 rising and falling alternately, and at times, seeming to abandon itself 

 to the fury of the gale, is blown away like thistle-down, until, suddenly 

 recovering itself, it shoots back to its original position. Where there are 

 tall poplar trees these birds amuse themselves by perching on the topmost 

 slender twigs, balancing themselves with outspread wings, each bird on 

 a separate tree, until the tree-tops are swept by the wind from under 

 them, when they often remain poised almost motionless m the air, 

 until the twigs return to their feet. 



When looking out for prey, this Kite usually maintains a height of 

 sixty or seventy feet above the ground, and in its actions strikingly 

 resembles a fishing gull, frequently remaining poised in the air with 

 body motionless and wings rapidly vibrating for fully half a minute at 

 a stretch, after which it flies on or dashes down upon its prey. 



The nest is placed on the topmost twigs of a tall tree, and is round 

 and neatly built of sticks, rather deep, and lined with dry grass. The 

 eggs are eight in number, nearly spherical, the ground-colour creamy 

 white, densely marked with longitudinal blotches or stripes of a fine 

 rich red, almost like coagulated blood in hue. There is, however, great 

 variety in the shades of the red, also in the disposition of the markings, 

 these in some eggs being confluent, so that the whole shell is red. The 

 shell is polished aud exceedingly fragile, a rare thing in the eggs of 

 a raptor. 



