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Genus MILVUS. 



Accipiter apud Brisson, Orn. i. p. 414 (1760). 

 Falco apud Linnaeus, Syst. Nat. i. p. 126 (1766). 

 Milvus, Cuvier, Lee. Anat. Comp. i. tabl. 2 (1800). 

 Hydroictiiiia apud Kaup, Classif. Saugeth. & Vog. p. 115 (1844). 



This genus is essentially an Old-World one, as the six species which constitute it inhabit the 

 Palsearctic, Ethiopian, Oriental, and Australian Regions, three of these species being found in 

 the Western Palsearctic Region. 



The Kites frequent groves and well-wooded localities, especially in the vicinity of rivers ; and 

 where not molested they are partial to inhabited places. Their flight is buoyant and gliding ; 

 and they may often be seen soaring in circles at considerable altitudes. They feed on small 

 mammals, reptiles, insects, less frequently on small birds ; and they are by no means averse to 

 carrion of various kinds, some species being, in hot climates, most useful as scavengers. They 

 place their nests on a high tree or in a cliff, and construct them of sticks interwoven with a 

 variety of old materials, lining them with rags and any soft material they can find. The eggs, 

 from three to four in number, are bluish white, more or less marked with pale purplish grey 

 and dark red or reddish brown. 



Milvus ictinus, the type of the genus, has the bill straight at the base and decurved from 

 the cere to the point, the cutting-margin of the upper mandible slightly festooned ; nostrils oval, 

 oblique ; wings long, reaching nearly to the end of the tail, the first quill rather longer than the 

 seventh, the third longest ; tail long, forked ; legs short, the tarsus feathered on the upper and 

 scaled on the lower part ; toes short, strong, the outer toe slightly reversible ; claws moderately 

 strong, curved, acute. 



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