86 ELANUS CLERULEUS. 



Female. Wing 10'6 to 10-9. 



Iris varying according to age from orange-red to pale scarlet or carmine ; cere and base of under mandible yellow ; 

 bill black ; legs and feet rich yellow, claws black. 



Crown, hind neck, back, scapulars, major wing-coverts, and central tail-feathers bluish or ashy grey; forehead, a line 

 above the supercilium, ear-coverts, entire under surface, under wing, upper edge of the same, axillarii-s, and under 

 surface of tail white ; lores, a short supercilium, lesser and median wing-coverts, and the winglet coal-black : quills 

 dark ashen-grey, the shafts black, and the under surface of the primaries blackish, the three lateral tail-feathers 

 whitish, sullied on the outer webs with grey, shafts of all the rectrices black except at the tip. 



Young. After leaving the nest, the iris is hazel-brown, and the bill, cere, and legs much as in the adult; in a few 



months the iris pales to olive-grey. 

 Crown and nape brownish fulvous, paling into buff over the eyes ; upper part of hind neck edged whitish ; back. 



scapulars, and greater wing-coverts slaty brown, broadly edged with fulvous white: quills dark slate, with deep 



whitish tips : secondary wing-coverts only, black with pale margins ; tail with the central feathers brownish slaty. 



the rest slaty-grey ; chin, gorge, and ear-coverts white ; throat, chest, and breast richly tinged with buff, paling 



into the pure white of the lower parts ; lores and eye-streak as in the adult. 



With age the forehead and chest become whitish, or, in some, pale greyish, while the back and scapulars lose their 

 brown hue and become ashy, but the two latter parts still remain tipped with whitish ; the shoulder of the wing 

 becomes blacker before the end of the first year ; but the greater coverts, the primaries, and their coverts remain 

 tipped with white until after the next moult. It is not until the bird is fully adult, probably two years old, 

 that the back loses entirely the brown shade, and the lateral tail-feathers their grey hue. 



Distribution. — The Black-winged Kite is widely dispersed over the low country, and is a common bird 

 throughout the Kandyan Province, more especially during the cool season (October until April), during 

 which period it breeds in many of the hill-districts. As regards the lowlands, it is not at all uncommon in 

 the south-eastern, eastern, and northern portions of the island, where the characteristic grass-lands, surrounded 

 by forest, or bordering the shores of large tanks or inlets of the sea, and often, too, studded with dead trees, 

 furnish it with a hunting-ground and many a favourite perch. In the extreme north I have seen it in the 

 Jaffna peninsula; and Layard procured at Pt. Pedro. 



In the Western Province south of the Chilaw district it is not often seen during the south-west monsoon ; 

 but in the dry season it is not uncommon, and has been procured as near Colombo as the cinnamon-gardens. 



It occurs in many places in the Galle district, more particularly about citronella-grass estates and voung 

 cocoa-nut plantations. I have found it more particularly in the open lands of the delta of the Mahawelliganga 

 and the Batticaloa district, in the low jungles and scattered scrubs between Madampe and Puttalam, and in 

 grassy wastes surrounding the tanks near the south-east coast, than in other parts of the low country. 



In the Central Province it confines itself to the open country in Uva, and the patnas and cultivated vallevs 

 interspersed with woods which are characteristic of the hills from the neighbourhood of Kandy to the base of 

 the main range, as also to the so-called " plains " surrounded by forest in the latter district, among which I 

 may cite Nuwara Elliya, the Kandapolla, Elk, and Elephant Plains, where it is a well known bird, particularly- 

 in the breeding-season. 



The Black-winged Kite is a bird of wide geographical range, inhabiting the entire Indian peninsula, South- 

 eastern Europe, and the whole of the continent of Africa. As regards the Indian empire, in which its range 

 has more interest than elsewhere for my readers, it is found in the south of the peninsula, but perhaps not 

 commonly, as it is absent from Mr. Hume's First List of Birds from the Travancore Hills, Mr. Bourdillon 

 not having observed it there. In the Khandalla district it is rare in the vicinity of Ahmednagar; but this is 

 a local peculiarity, for it is fairly plentiful further north. Dr. Stoliczka procured it at the Gulf of Cutch. 

 Captain Butler says it occurs all over the plains of Northern Guzerat ; and Mr. Hume records it as plentiful 

 in Nepal, though it is rare in Sindh, which region is probably too barren for its habits. Along the base of the 

 Himalayas it is not uncommon, Mr. Thompson having found it breeding in Lower Gurhwal and the Dehra 

 Doon. About the Sambhur Lake Mr. Adam says it is not uncommon ; and Mr. Ball found it tolerably so in 

 the western parts of Chota Nagpur, while in the Satpura hills it was rather abundant. Bearing towards 

 Burmah, we find that in the boundary-district of Cachar it is rare, Mr. Inglis only having seen half-a-dozen 



