ORDER ACCIPITRES. 57 



the tarsi short, weak and shielded, and the third quill 

 is the longest. It has the habits of both the hawks 

 and kites. 



The Spotted-tailed Hobby, Lath. Falco plumbea, 

 Lin. Lath. Hist. t. 12. Vieil. Gal. Ois. t. 17. Spix, 

 Bras. t. 8. b. pi. col. t. 180. 



Blackish ash ; head, neck, and beneath paler ; tail 

 black ; feet red. Is the F. Mississipends of Wilson, 

 A. O. t. 25. f. 1. and Milvus Ce?ichns, Vieil. Ame- 

 rica. 



The Kites (Milvus, Bechstein). Milvina, Vigors. 



Have short tarsi, with weak toes and nails, which, 

 together with a beak equally ill proportioned to their 

 size, render the species the most cowardly of all ; but 

 they are distinguished by their wings being exces- 

 sively long, and by their forked tail, by which they 

 have a most rapid and easy flight. 



Some have the tarsi very short, reticulated, and 

 half covered with feathers on the upper part like the 

 last small tribe of eagles. The genus Elamis of 

 Savigny. 



Now divided into the true Elanus. 



The Blac, Vail. Afr. t. 36, 37 (the F. melanopterus, Daud. 

 Zool. Misc. iii. t. 122). 



As large as a sparrowhawk, with the plumage soft 

 and silky ; the tail but little forked ; ashy above, white 

 underneath, with the small coverture of the wings 

 blackish : the young is brown, varied with yellow. 

 This bird is common from Egypt to the Cape. It 



