1 68 ALLEN'S NATURALIST'S LIBRARY. 



margin closing in the nostril, so that the nasal opening appears 

 as a linear slit. The tail is forked, so that the outer feathers 

 are the longest, and the wings are long and pointed, but the 

 difference between the tips of the primaries and secondaries is 

 more than that of the fork of the tail. 



The True Kites are birds of the Old World, and are dis- 

 tributed over temperate Europe, as well as Asia, Africa, and 

 Australia. 



I. THE COMMON, OR RED KITE. MILVUS MILVUS. 



Falco milvus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 126 (1766). 



Milvus regalis, Roux; Macg. Brit. B. iii. p. 265 (1840) ; See- 



bohm, Br. B. i. p. 74 (1883); Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. 



part xi. (1889). 

 Milvus ictinus, Sav. ; Newt. ed. Yarr. Brit. B. i. p. 92 (1871) ; 



Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. i. p. 319 (1874); Dresser, B. 



Eur. v. p. 643, pi. 361 (1875) ; B- O. U. List Br. B. p. 99 



(1883) ; Saunders, Man. Br. B. p. 325 (1889). 



(Plate XLFJIL) 



Adult Male. Above brown, with rufous margins to the 

 feathers, shading off into buff on the edges, especially on the 

 wing-coverts ; primary-coverts and primary-quills black, with 

 the base of the inner web white ; the secondaries paler brown, 

 with rufous edges ; the lower back and rump dark brown ; 

 upper tail-coverts rufous, washed with brown ; tail rufous, with 

 fulvous tips to the feathers, the outer feathers darker brown on 

 the outer web, especially towards the tips, the inner web with 

 a few bars of dark brown ; head, sides of face, and throat 

 whitish, streaked with dark brown, more narrowly on the latter ; 

 chest pale rufous, the feathers margined with buff, and with 

 broad brown centres ; remainder of under surface of body 

 bright rufous, with longitudinal centres of dark brown, these 

 streaks more narrow on the thighs and under tail-coverts; under 

 wing-coverts and axillaries dark brown, with rufous margins, 

 the lower series greyish ; cere yellow; bill horn-colour ; feet 

 yellow; iris yellow. Total length, 24 inches ; culmen, i'8 ; wing, 

 20-4; tail, i5'o; tarsus, 2*2. 



Adult Female. Similar to the male. Total length, 24 inches; 

 wing, 1 8 6. 

 Young Birds are distinguished by the light streaks on the under 



