86 AVES RAPTORES. [MiLVus. 



passing into blackish gray : throat whitish, with fine longitudinal dusky 

 streaks ; rest of the under parts reddish white, undulated with transverse 

 bars of dusky brown. (Young.) Upper parts brown, the feathers with 

 pale reddish edges : some whitish spots on the shoulders : under parts 

 yellowish white, with transverse reddish bars ; or whitish, with brown 

 bars: irides grayish: feet livid yellow. (Egg.) Pale bluish white, 

 blotched and spotted with dark red brown : long. diam. one inch seven 

 lines; trans, diam. one inch four lines. 



Common throughout the country. Preys upon the smaller quadrupeds 

 and birds, and is very destructive to partridges. Builds in trees, forming 

 a shallow nest of slender twigs. Lays from three to six eggs. This 

 species is remarkable for the great difference of size between the male 

 and female. 



GEN. 5. MILVUS, Bechst. 



(1. MILVUS, Vig.) 

 13. M. Ictinus, Sav. (Kite.) Reddish brown above ; 

 beneath ferruginous, with dark longitudinal streaks. 



Falco Milvus, Temm. Man. d'Orn. torn. i. p. 59. Kite, Mont. Orn. 

 Diet, and Supp. Selb. lllust. vol. i. p. 74. pi. 5. Bew. Brit. Birds? 

 vol. i. p. 32. 



DIMENS. Entire length twenty-five inches : length of the bill (from 

 the forehead) one inch eight lines, (from the gape) one inch eleven lines ; 

 of the tarsus two inches two lines ; of the tail twelve inches eight lines ; 

 from the carpus to the end of the wing twenty inches : breadth, wings 

 extended, five feet two inches. 



DESCRIPT. (Male.) Head and neck grayish white, with fine streaks of 

 dusky brown ; the feathers on these parts long, and acuminated : rest of 

 the upper parts reddish brown; the feathers with pale edges: under 

 parts ferruginous, with longitudinal brown streaks : tail long and deeply 

 forked, reddish orange, with obsolete brown bars : bill yellowish brown 

 at the base, towards the tip dusky : cere and irides yellow. (Female.) 

 Upper plumage of a deeper brown, with less of the ferruginous tinge ; 

 the edges of the feathers paler, approaching to white. (Young of the 

 year.) Feathers on the head shorter, and less acuminated; bright red 

 without streaks, tipped with white: upper parts redder than in the 

 adult; feathers on the back and wings dusky in the centre, reddish 

 yellow at the edges : on the lower part of the neck some large white 

 spots. (Egg.) Dirty white; the larger end spotted with red brown: 

 long. diam. two inches two lines ; trans, diam. one inch nine lines. 



Common in some parts of the country, but not generally diffused. 

 Frequents wooded districts, and builds in trees. Food young game, and 

 the smaller quadrupeds. 



Sav.) 



(1.) M. furcatus, Nob. Falco furcatus, Linn. Syst. Nat. torn. i. 

 p. 129. Nauclerus furcatus, Vig. in Zool. Journ. vol. n. p. 387. 

 Swallow-tailed Falcon, Shaw, Nat. Misc. vol. vi. pi. 204. Swal- 

 low-tailed Elanus, Selb. lllust. vol. I. p. 77. 



This species, which is a native of North America, is stated by Dr 

 Fleming (Brit. An. p. 52) as having occurred to the late Dr Walker in 

 Argyleshire, in 1772. A second individual is said to have been taken alive 

 in Yorkshire, in Sept. 1805. (Linn. Trans, vol. xiv. p. 583.) No British- 

 killed specimen, however, is known to exist in any of our museums. 



