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1872.] RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF INDIA. 79 



black, with pale fulvous nuchal spot. This variety is extremely 

 rare. Feeds frequently on wounded Ducks and Teal, but never 

 attempts to carry off the quarry, and eats it on the spot. 



55. Haliastur indus, Bodd. (The Brahminy Kite.) 



Essentially a marsh-bird ; but, though extremely common in Lower 

 Bengal, is far from being so in the North-western Provinces, and then 

 only in wet cultivation. Builds on high trees, invariably in the 

 vicinity of water, constructing a nest very much after the fashion of 

 the Common Kite. 



Nidification commences about February ; their eggs resemble 

 poorly marked specimens of Buteo vulgaris ; and they rarely lay 

 more than a pair. 



56. Milvus govinda, Sykes. (The Common Kite.) 



Universally present. They commence building early in cold wea- 

 ther ; but December is the most general time for them to lay. My 

 first eggs last year were got on the 18th of November, and they must 

 then have been a week old. 



These birds are perfectly fearless, and breed by preference in the 

 most densely populated parts of villages and bazars. The countless 

 varieties of their eggs defy all description. 



56 bis. Milvus major, Hume. (The Larger Kite.) 



This, I am informed, is the common Kite of Cashmere, and it is 

 only a cold-weather visitant to the plains of India. They are by no 

 means uncommon ; but there are probably few birds so difficult to 

 procure, owing to their excessive wariness. Its slow heavy flight, 

 together with the white under the wings, suffice to distinguish it at 

 a glance. 



In most of the specimens I have examined, the white under the 

 wings is most conspicuous ; the inner webs of the primaries, as far as 

 the emarginations, are more or less pure white. Some birds have 

 this part mottled ; but the white predominates. 



I have just now an undoubted male of this species before me in 

 the flesh of the following dimensions: — Length 24 \, wing 19|, 

 tail 1 2|. This is an unmistakable Milvus major, indeed a monster 

 Kite. 



I have, however, specimens of a Kite with all the characters of 

 Milvus major, but considerably smaller. It is also a cold-weather 

 visitant, and is equally shy as the former. Mr. Brooks has examined 

 these birds in my collection, and agrees with me in referring them 

 to another species : they may be Milvus affinis, or perhaps more pro- 

 bably M. melanotis of Temminck. 



I shot a very fine female of this lesser Kite in my camp last year, 

 close to the railway station at Etawah ; it was in company with 

 several of the common species, and attracted my notice for several 

 days, owing to its large size and the white under the wings. 



Undoubtedly we have three species of Kites in India, two of them 

 being migratory. 



