372 A FIRST LIST OF THE BIRDS 
51.—Circus Swainsoni, Sith. 
“Not uncommon from November to January inclusive, on 
high and exposed bare grass land.—F. W. B.” 
A fine young female of this species killed Colathoorpolay 
Valley, Travancore, at an elevation of about 3,000 feet ; on the 
28th December measured in the flesh :— 
Wing, 14°62; tail, 9:26; tarsus, 2°9; bill from gape, 1:18. 
The cere was greenish yellow; bill and claws, black ; tarsi and 
feet, orange yellow ; irides, bright yellow. 
55.—Haliastur indus, Bodd. 
No specimen received. 
“The Brahmany Kite is an occasional visitor to the hills 
during the hot weather. Its usual habitat is the sea coast and 
the palmyra plantations ; a few miles inland.—F. W. B.” 
56.—Milvus govinda, Sykes. 
No specimen sent. I cannot therefore tell whether the 
specific name has been correctly assigned. 
«The Pariah Kite is a hot weather visitor on the hills; num- 
bers may be seen hovering over the smoke of the grass fires 
at the foot of the hills, and wherever a piece of felled jungle 
is fired, the blaze and smoke is sure to attract these birds, 
who immediately collect and dive repeatedly into the thickest 
of the smoke, to supper on the remains of some scorched 
snake or lizard. I do not think that they pass the nights up 
the hills, for they are not usually visible before eight o’clock in 
the morning, or after four in the afternoon.—F. W. B.” 
68.—Otus brachyotus, Gm. 
‘A single specimen seen and shot while hawking at mid- 
day in bright sunshine, at 4,000 feet elevation, in the end of 
December.—F. W. B.” 
This specimen, a female killed at the same time and place as 
the pale-chested Harrier last mentioned, measured in the flesh :-— 
Length, 15; expanse, 388; wing, 12°37; tail, 6°5; tarsus, 1°87; 
bill from gape, 1:05. 
The bill and claws, black ; the irides, yellow. 
78.—Glaucidium malabaricum, Blyth. 
“A resident, preferring the lower jungles, though I have 
occasionally heard one as high as 2,500 feet in heavy jungle. 
The cry is not to be mistaken, it is extraordinar‘ly loud for 
the size of the bird. It has a great variety of notes, which 
