62 BRITISH BIRDS. 



Genus ELANOIDES. 



The genus Elanoides was established by Vieillot in 1818, in his ' Nouveau 

 Dictionnaire d'Histoire Naturelle/ xxiv. p. 101, when he removed the 

 Swallow-tailed Kite from the genus Milvus in which he had first placed it. 

 The latter genus was separated from the genus Falco (in which Linnaeus 

 included the Swallow-tailed Kite) by Cuvier in 1800. The only species 

 then known to Vieillot was E.furcatus, which must therefore be the type. 



This genus contains only one species, which is confined to the American 

 continent, and only accidentally strays as far as Europe. It has no very 

 near relations, but is distantly allied to the genus Nauckrus. It may 

 always be distinguished by its long narrow wings and the deep fork in the 

 tail, which resembles that of the Barn-Swallow. 



