230 NOTES UPON A COLLECTION OF BIRDS MADE 



56 ter.— Milvus affinis, Gould. 



The common Indian village Kite, and the species which breeds 

 in the plains, while the other migrates. This bird is as common 

 as the larger species at Mussoori. I sent examples of it to 

 England, which Mr. Gurney declared to be identical with the 

 Australian M. affinis. 



80.— Glaucidium Brodiei, Burton. 



I saw this little Owl frequently at Mussoori. 



82.— Hirundo rustica, Lin. 



_ Frequently seen, as it is at all hill stations. This bird is iden- 

 tical, as far as I can see, with H. gutturalis, Scop.; and I am 

 not so sure that the identification of it with the European spe- 

 cies is correct. The wing is generally much shorter, and the 

 bird is smaller. 



85 bis. — Hirundo (Cecropis) nipalensis, Hodgson. 



The hill species is not, I believe, H. daurica, L. The rump 

 band, as a rule, is very pale, and the striation intermediate in 

 boldness between that of daurica and erythropygia. The latter 

 I found in Cashmere as far up as Chnngus on the Tawi river, 

 but I did not see H. nipalensis in Cashmere. 



But the main point is this, Sykes describes the bird as the common Kite in the Duk- 

 hun, " constantly soaring in the air in circles, watching an opportunity to dart upon 

 a chicken, upon refuse animal matter thrown from the cook-room, and occasionally even 

 having the hardihood to stoop at a dish of meat carrying from the cook-room to the 

 house." 



Now this Kite is govinda. I have examined more than 30 specimens of Kites from 

 Bombay, Matteran, Sholapoor, Sattara, and Poona, and never found one major amongst 

 them, nay, when last at Bombay and Poona, I specially noticed the Kites, and while I 

 thought I recognized some affinis, I can positively affirm that there were no M. major. 

 This is much the case in Calcutta, where, during the last three years or more, I have 

 closely scrutinized every Kite without ever seeing more than one or two major, which 

 on the wing may be distinguished at once by the great white patch at the base of the 

 primaries, on the lower surface of the wing. 



Everywhere in the plains, major is a bird of the jungle, very rarely approaching 

 towns or even large villages, and living more on frogs, locusts, &c, than on offal. 



It is absolutely certain in my opinion that Sykes' govinda was not major, first be- 

 cause it is our medium-sized Kite alone of the two larger sizes that occurs in the 

 Dukhun, except perhaps as a straggler, and second, because while the medium-sized 

 has, the larger has not, in the plains, the habits attributed to govinda by Sykes. 



Sykes may have killed a Milvus major, and there may be a specimen of this in his 

 collection, but the bird which he described as the common kite of the Dukhun, and 

 whose habits he descanted on, was the medium-sized one. 



My own impression is that very few people to this day know the real Milvus major 

 with its 21 to 22-inch wing and huge pure white wing patch; large govindas, with 

 mottled greyish white and brown wing patches, have, to my knowledge, been sent home 

 as major, but this latter, except in particular localities, is a rare and wary bird, not 

 often seen, and hard to procure, whereas if we accept the identi6cation of some writers 

 (I do not refer to Mr. Brooks, who does know the bird), they are as plentiful all over the 

 country as blackberries on a Devonshire hedge. 



No doubt there remains the question, are the three races specifically distinct? This 

 each ornithologist must answer as he li'teth ; undoubtedly intermediate forms occur, 

 but I shall have more to say on this subject hereafter in a separate article. — Ed., S. Jf, 



