FALCONID^. S3 



silver- white, acquiring a yellow tinge in old birds ; * 

 the entire head and throat whitish grey, lightest on 

 the forehead and chin, the shafts of the feathers 

 black ; in some specimens the head inclines more to 

 rufous than grey (this is probably the case in young 

 birds) ; the feathers of the head and neck are acu- 

 minated, as well as those of the breast and tippet ; 

 the quill-feathers and larger coverts of the wings are 

 blackish brown ; all the rest of the upper plumage 

 reddish brown, the central part of each feather 

 dusky ; the feathers of the breast and under parts 

 are reddish orange, darkest upon the thighs ; those 

 of the breast are marked with a streak of fine 

 black, bordered with white; the tail and upper 

 coverts are of the same orange colour as the breast, 

 with dark shafts ; the outer feathers dusky along the 

 edge and crossed with dusky lines ; the tail-feathers 

 beneath reddish white, with seven or eight indis- 

 tinct bars of a dusky colour showing through from 

 above ; legs and toes yellow ; claws black. The 

 female has nearly the same coloured markings as 

 the male." 



The egg of the Kite is something like that of the 

 Buzzard, next to be described, except that the spots 

 are darker and more distinct. 



* The irides of some I saw at the Zoological Gardens 

 were white, very slightly tinged with pale yellow. 



