FALCO. BIRDS. 191 



indications of transverse stripes. Eighteen .inches long. Inha- 

 bits Brazil. Tern. PL Col. 91. 



F. nitidus, Tern. Plumage lead-coloured above, white below, trans- 

 versely waved with ash-colour; tail black, with two narrow white 

 bands ; legs long and yellow. Thirteen inches long. Inhabits 

 Guiana Tern. PI. Col 87- 



F. xanthothorax, Tern. Plumage reddish brown above, white be- 

 neath ; transversely striped with rufous ; head, throat, and neck 

 cinnamon red. Twelve inches long. Brazil. Tern. PI. Col. 92. 



F. brachypterus, Tern. Plumage dusky brown above, collar and ab- 

 domen white, transversely striped with black ; tail wedge-shaped 

 with three white bands. Eighteen inches long. Inhabits Brazil. 

 Tern. PL Col. 116, 141. 



F. poliogaster, Natterer. Plumage slaty black, beneath ashy white; 

 throat white ; tail black, with three gray bands above and four 

 below ; male reddish, with the wings and back dusky. Sixteen 

 inches long. Inhabits Brazil Tern. PL Col. 164, 295. 



4. KITES. 



Nostrils oblique, with a fold at their exterior margin ; tarsi short, 

 feathered a little below the knee ; wings very lo?ig, the third and 

 fourth feathers longest ; tail forked. 



F. milvus, Lin. The Kite or Glead. Upper parts of the body of a 

 reddish brown, the feathers bordered with a brighter colour ; low- 

 er parts ferruginous, with longitudinal dusky spots ; feathers of 

 the neck and head long and slender, whitish, striped longitudi- 

 nally with brown ; tail bright ferruginous, forked ; bill hooked 

 at the end ; cere, iris, and legs yellow. Two feet two inches long. 

 Inhabits Europe. B Selby, Illust. pi. 5. 

 Le Milan Royal, Buff. ; Rother Milan, Bechst. The young, F. Austriacus, Gmel. 



and Lath. 



The Kite is known by its flight, which resembles a sailing or gliding through the 

 air, without apparent motion of its wings. It preys on young rabbits, hares, game 

 of all kinds, poultry, and young birds incapable of flight. It will also destroy 

 young lambs, and feed greedily on carrion ; but, in default of these, it readily eats 

 mice, worms, insects, and even snakes. It frequently resorts to the neighbourhood 

 of towns to pick up offals, which it also sweeps from the surface of the water with 

 great dexterity. 



F. ater, Lin. Head and throat banded longitudinally with brown 

 and whitish; upper parts of a deep grayish brown, lower parts red- 

 dish brown, with longitudinal spots on the middle of the feathers ; 

 thighs deep red ; quill- feathers deep brown ; tail very little forked, 

 with ten bands of a brighter colour ; bill black. Length one foot 

 ten inches. Inhabits Germany, &c Lath. Syn. i. 62. 



F.furcatus, Lin. Swallow-tailed Kite. White; with the back, 

 wings, and very long forked tail, purplish black. About two feet 

 long. Inhabits Carolina, Louisiana, &c Shaw, vii. 10J. 



F. melanopterus, Shaw. Plumage gray above, white beneath ; wing* 

 coverts black ; tail subrufous, forked ; bill black ; iris and legs yel- 

 lowish. Size of the Kestril. Inhabits Africa Leach. Zool. 

 JHw.iii.pl. 122, 



