MILVUS GOVINDA. 83 



mentions seeing what appeared to be true M. govinda in the hills between Yanjihissar and Sirikul; this, I am 

 inclined to think, was a wrong identification. In the plains of India and at Calcutta it abounds ; but from 

 Burmah Mr. Hume has only received what he considers to be the rufous (Australian) species, M. affinis, which 

 inhabits the Malay peninsula, the Archipelago, and the eastern coasts of Australia. From the Andamans 

 M. govinda appears to be entirely absent ; and doubtless, if a Kite is procured from the islands of the Bay of 

 Bengal, it will be the Malayan bird, which, as I have just mentioned, inhabits the peninsula. At the Laccadives, 

 Mr. Hume mentions that a Kite not -uncommonly occurs, which must be either govinda or affinis ; and as the 

 former species is represented in Ceylon, it is doubtless the same bird which affects these islands. 



Habits, — -This Kite, in the north of Ceylon, as it does in India, plays the part of an extremely useful 

 scavenger. There, as in the districts on the mainland frequented by it, it resorts to villages and towns, more 

 particularly those situated on the coast, and, collecting in large flocks, performs the office of devouring all the 

 offal, refuse of human food, thrown out of the doors of native houses, garbage, and decaying organic remains 

 which it can possibly get hold of in the course of the day's peregrinations. At the hauling-in of the morning 

 seine net it is also a constant and regular attendant, disputing with the usual crowd of " Kakas " for the pos- 

 session of stray fish and crabs rejected by the fishermen. In the town of Jaffna, where it is exceedingly abundant 

 and extremely useful in a sanitary point of view, it resorts in scores, nay, hundreds at times, to the grand old 

 banyan tree upon the fort-ramparts, roosting in it at nights, and perching on its outspreading branches 

 between " meals/' sallying out thence to the sea-beach and various parts of the town, as well as to the open 

 fields of the surrounding country. At the beach, attracted by the arrival of fishing-boats and small craft from 

 the adjacent islands, they present a lively scene : scores of birds circle round and fly to and fro with squealing 

 notes and eager glances at the boats beneath them ; some glide over the roofs of the houses, and, taking a 

 wider tour than their mates, return again, sailing back through the streets in utter disregard of the busy 

 human throng ; meanwhile their more fortunate companions, alighted here and there on the sand, are discussing 

 dainty (?) morsels of the most various description picked up with a quick and sudden swoop, or robbed from 

 their sable allies the Crows, who stand off at a respectful distance, ruefully " cawing " their disappointment 

 and rage. Layard, who lived for a considerable period in the north of the island, markedly alludes to their 

 daring when pressed by hunger, and says : — " They are bold enough to make frequent depredations on the fish- 

 stalls ; and in one instance I saw a lad of about thirteen years struck to the ground by the sudden pounce of a 

 Kite, who bore off a good-sized fish from a basket the boy was carrying on his head." This statement of its 

 boldness is corroborated by a letter which has lately appeared in ' Stray Feathers/ vol. v. p. 347, in which a 

 correspondent states that a Kite, whose nest had been robbed by the son of a sepoy, persistently watched for 

 the lad, swooping down and attacking him whenever he left the house, ample evidence of which maltreatment 

 was afforded by the appearance of the lad's head and arms. 



Jerdon has the following paragraph in his ' Birds of India/ on the habits of the " Chil " in India : — " When 

 a basket of refuse or offal is thrown out in the streets to be carted away, the Kites of the immediate neigh- 

 bourhood, who appear to be quite cognizant of the usual time at which this is done, are all on the look-out, 

 and dash down on it impetuously, some of them seizing the most tempting morsels by a rapid swoop, others 

 deliberately sitting down on the heaps along with crows and dogs, and selecting their scraps. Ou such an 

 occasion, too, there is many a struggle to retain a larger fragment than usual ; for the possessor no sooner 

 emerges from its swoop than several empty-clawed spectators instantly pursue it eagerly, till the owner finds 

 the chase too hot, and drops the bone of contention, which is generally picked up long before it reaches the 

 ground, again and again to change owners, and perhaps finally revert to its original proprietor. On such 

 occasions a considerable amount of squealing goes on." 



The flight of the Pariah Kite is buoyant and easy, the points of its wings being much turned up, and its long- 

 tail swayed to and fro as it gracefully curves about and alters its course with motionless pinions. It devours 

 much of its food on the wing ; and what it cannot thus consume it disposes of on the ground. In the north 

 of Ceylon the bare and broken leaves of the Palmyra palm afford it a favourite perch. When not occupied in 

 seeking for garbage it quests about marshes and other open places near the sea-coast for frogs, water-snakes, 

 small crabs, &c. Mr. Holdsworth has observed a large flock at Aripu, feeding on winged termites, which they 



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