MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 633 



No. XIII.— A NOTE ON THE HABITS OF THE COMMON PARIAH 



KITE {MILVU8 GOV IN DA) AND THE ADJUTANT STORK 



(LEPTOPTILUS DUBIUS). 



It is well known that the habits, etc., of some birds have changed since the 

 time of Oates and Blanford's Volumes in the " Fauna of British India ", and 

 a systematic glance through these books would probably reveal several state- 

 ments, which though correct at that time arc certainly not so now. With 

 regard to the Common Pariah Kite (Milvus govinda) and the Adjutant Stork 

 (Ijeptopiilus dubius), both of which are very familiar Indian birds, the following 

 remarks may be of interest. 



On page 377 of Vol. Ill Blanford quotes a passage from Jerdon about the 

 habits of the kite, and adds that the statement is perfectly correct. He (Jerdon) 

 says : " Mr. Blyth notices their collecting in numbers without any ajjparent 

 object, especially towards evening. This I have frequently observed at all 

 large stations, where the whole of the kites of the neighbourhood, before retir- 

 ing to rest, appear to hold conclave. They are said to leave Calcutta almost 

 entirely for three or four months during the rains." They certainly do collect 

 in the evenings, but never in very large numbers, or within a small area, and, 

 according to our observations and those of other naturalists we have consullpd 

 they are almost as abundant during the rains as they are in the other months. 



Again, on page 106, Vol. I of " The Birds of India ". Jerdon remarks : " Capt. 

 Irby mentions having seen one hundred together, but in Calcutta and else- 

 where two or three hundred may be seen at one time." Personally we have 

 never seen them in such large numbers. 



Speaking of the Adjutant Stork, Blanford makes the following statement 

 on page 374, Vol. IV, which would be absolutely incorrect at the present day: — 

 " In Calcutta throughout the hot season and the rains Adjutants swarm, 

 and formerly, before the sanitary arrangements of the city were improved, 

 numbers haunted the river ghats in the day time and perched on Government 

 House and other conspicuous buildings at night." Adjutants were undoubtedly 

 very common years ago but none are to be seen in Calcutta now. As far back 

 as 1905, when Mr. Frank Finn was in the Indian Museum, the Adjutants 

 seemed to have left the city. This is probably due to the improved sanitary 

 arrangements and the increased population in Calcutta. 



CEDRIC DOVER. 

 S. BASIL-EDWARDES. 

 Indian Museum, 

 Calcutta, 2Qth August 1920. 



[Since this was written I have observed that " Cheels " collect at all times 

 of the day — unless it is very sunny — and not specially towards evening. In 

 the rainy-season on threatening days they collect in somewhat larger numbers. 

 On fine sunny days they often soar to sucli a height that they appear as small 

 as, or even smaller than, a crow. In fact they may sometimes be mistaken for 

 them. 



Blanford {torn cit) quoting Jerdon says that " As remarked by Buchanan 

 Hamilton, they are often to be seen seated on the entablatures of buildings 

 with their breast to the wall and wings spread out, exactly as represented in 

 Egyptian monuments." During several years' residence in Calcutta I have 

 never seen them sitting with their wings spread, though they often sit with 

 their breast to the wall. Of course, they may do so in other places, but 

 seeing that resting mth their mngs folded must be more comfortable, I should 

 think it would be exceptional rather than " often " as Buchanan Hamilton 

 remarks.— C. D.] 

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