1872.] F. Stoliczka — Mammals and Birds inhabiting Kachh. 231 



56. Milytjs GOVINDA. Very common. 



The details in coloration are exactly as recorded of govinda, though 

 they do not in any essential point appear to differ from those of affinis 

 (Comp. Hmne, Scrap-book, p. 320). Measurements of two specimens : 

 wing l7 - 5 and 17 ; tail 10*6 and 1125 ; tarsus 2 - l, midtoe without claw 

 1*6 and 1*8, its claw straight 07 and - 75 ; bill from gape l - 7 and 1*65 

 inch. This is as far as I saw, the only kite found throughout Kachh. 

 A pair was breeding on a tree near Sumrasir on the 14th November.* Gray 

 (Handl., I, 2G) gives melanotis, Tern, and Schlegel, which was shewn by 

 Blanford to be identical with M. major of Hume, as a synonym of govinda, 

 but he places affinis of Gould in a distinct subgenus. M. affinis is added to 

 the Indian fauna by Jerdon in Ibis for 1871, p. 343 ; but are these two 

 races really specifically distinct ? 



67. Otus vulgaris. I have seen it only on three occasions. 



69. Bubo (Urrua) Bengalensis. Not uncommon in rocky ravines. 



76. Athene brama. Very common. 



82. Hirunbo rustica. Common. 



Wing 4'6 ; outer tail feathers 3 - 6, central 1*8 ; tarsus G"4 ; midtoe and 

 claw nearly 07 inch. 



84. H. (Uromitus) eilifera. Common. 



This, Jerdon writes, ' must stand, it appears, as_ET. rujiceps, Lichtenstein,' 

 but he thinks that the differences, said to exist between the Indian and 

 African form, as pointed out by Mr. Gould, ' may perhaps still hold good.' 

 Mr. Gould (Birds of Asia, Part xviii) says, that African examples differ by 

 being smaller, by having a lesser amount of rufous on the top of the head, 

 and a shorter tail. Now, these must be admitted to be very variable charac- 

 ters, in the Indian bird at least. I measured specimens with the wing 

 varying from 4"4 to 4*8, and with the central tail-feathers from 1*3 to 1*6 

 inches long. The rufous on the head changes in Kachh specimens, (shot 

 in winter), from deep rufous brown to a pale rusty. 



85. lis H. (Lellia) erttroptgia. Very common. 



Wing 4 - l to 4.3, tail 2 - 8 to 33. True daurica occurs in the Satlej 

 valley, where it is far from rare, and I also have a specimen of it from Western 

 Bengal, shot by Mr. Ball during the winter of 1870 ; it is, therefore, not a 

 restricted hill form. It differs not only in size, but also in the form of 

 the bill, this being in daurica more contracted towards the tip and slightly 

 longer. 



90. Ptionoprogste concolor. Very common. 



Wing 4 to 4*2, tail 1*9 to 2 inches, the central feathers from - l to - 2 



* I have seen a pair of govinda copulating on 5th September, and before I left 

 Calcutta on 10th October, they had their nest ready in front of my window. 



