RAPTORES. MILVUS. 73 



Subfamily MILVINA. 



Bill of moderate strength, nearly strait at the base. Fea- 

 thers upon the head and neck, narrow and acuminate. 

 Nostrils placed rather obliquely. Wings very long ; the 

 first quill-feather short. Tarsi scaled, short, feathered for a 

 short space below the knee. Tail more or less forked. Prey 

 pounced upon the ground, or, when consisting of insects, 

 caught in the air. Flight very buoyant, with little exertion 

 of the wings, and in wide circles. 



Genus MILVUS, AucT. KITE. 



GENERIC CHARACTERS. 



Bill of moderate strength, nearly strait at the base; rapid- 

 ly incurved in front of the cere to the tip, which forms an 

 acute hook. Culmen subangular. Cutting margin of the 

 upper mandible with a shallow lobe or festoon between the 

 line of the nostrils and the tip. Upper mandible rounded 

 at the tip. Cere short ; nostrils oval ; rather obliquely 

 placed in the cere. Feathers of the head and neck acumi- 

 nate. Wings very long ; the first feather short, more so than 

 the seventh ; the fourth the longest of all ; the first five ha- 

 ving their inner webs notched; the second, third, fourth, 

 and fifth, with the outer ones, the same. Tail long, more 

 or less forked. Legs with the tarsi very short ; feathered 

 below the joint ; the naked frontal part scutellated. Toes 

 rather short, and strong, the outer united at its base to the 

 middle one. Claws long and strong, moderately incurved, 

 with the inner edge of the middle one thin and dilated. 



The birds of this genus are distinguished for their grace- 

 ful and easy flight, which is performed by little exertion of 



