ASSAM, SYLHET AND CACHAR. 15 



less must occur, though possibly very sparingly, throughout the 

 plains portion of that province. 



[Not very common in the Dibrugarh district, but this very 

 likely is from there being such few " jheels," properly speaking, 

 during the cold weather. — J. R. C] 



In British Burmah it occurs everywhere in the plains portion 

 of the country. 



55.— Haliastur Indus, Bodd. 



Sparingly distributed throughout the basin, least rare to- 

 wards the south; occasionally seen along streams in the 

 hearts of both the Eastern and Western hills; common 

 throughout Burmah and, I believe, the whole of Assam. 



[Fairly common along the rivers, and occasionally seen inland 

 in the Dibrugarh district, wherever there are any pools of 

 water. — J. K C] 



56&is. — Milvus melanotis, Tem. & Schl. 



Kites are, compared with most other parts_ of the Empire, 

 extremely scarce even in the basin of Manipur, and in the 

 hills I did not see them at all. I never met with the common 

 medium-sized Kite of India par excellence, to which I con- 

 sidered that the name govinda of Sykes applies. All I saw 

 were either the large heavy flying bird with the huge pure 

 white patch on the under surface of the wing or the little 

 dark aflnis. Melanotis occurs, though sparingly, throughout 

 the Assam* valley. I have a specimen from Shillong, and I 

 procured it both in Sylhet and Cachar. I have not yet seen 

 this species from any part of Burmah except the Western 

 portions of Upper Tenasserim and the Eastern portions of 

 Lower Pegu. 



56«er.— Milvus aflanis, Gould, 



This was by farlhe commonest Kite in Manipur, but even 

 of this I doubt whether I saw thirty specimens from first to 

 last. At the same time I note that, according to the people, 

 they are more common later in the summer and during the 

 autumn. 



This is the only species that I have seen from the greater 

 part of British Burmah, and it appears to occur throughout 

 Assam, Cachar and Sylhet. But I am not certain that it does 

 get up to the extreme east of the valley, as a specimen from 



* [Milvus melanotis, Tem. & Schl.— Only observed in the Dibrugarh district 

 during the cold 8eason, consorting with, but not so common as, the last species, — 

 J. E. C] 



