MILVUS ^GYPTIUS. 



(ARABIAN KITE.) 



Falco cegyptius, Gmel. Syst. Nat. i. p. 261 (1788). 



Falco forskdhlii, Gmel. torn. cit. p. 263 (1788, ex Forsk.). 



Le Parasite, Levaill. Ois. d'Afr. i. p. 88, pi. 22 (1799). 



Falco parasitus, Daud. Traite d'Orn. ii. p. 150 (1800, ex Levaill.). 



Milvus cetolius, Savigny, Syst. d'Ois. d'Egypte, p. 260, pi. 3. fig. 1 (1809). 



Milvus parasiticus (Daud.), Less. Traite d'Orn. p. 71 (1831). 



Milvus cegyptius (Gmel.), Gray, Cat. Accipitr. p. 44 (1848). 



Milvus forskahli (Gmel.), Strickl. Orn. Syn. p. 134 (1855). 



Milvus leucorhynchos, C. L. Brehm, Vogelfang, p. 15 (1855). 



Eydroictinia parasitica (Gmel.), Kaup, Isis, 1847, p. 117. 



Milvus parasitus (Daud.), Bp. Consp. Gen. Av. i. p. 21 (1850). 



Milvus cegypius, Bree, B. of Eur. 2nd ed. i. p. 124 (1875). 



Figures notabiles. 



Levaillant, I. c; Savigny, I. c; Schlegel & Susemihl, Vog. Eur. taf. 31; Fritsch, Vog. Eur. 

 taf. 10. fig. 1 ; Bree, B. of Eur. i. pi. to p. 124. 



Milvo migranti similis sed paullo minor, rostro et cera flavis, cauda magis furcata facile distinguendus. 



Adult Female (Thebes, March 1864). Closely resembling Milvus migrans in plumage; but the crown is less 

 grey and more rufous in tinge, and the tail is a trifle more deeply forked ; the bill and cere, however, are 

 wax-yellow, this being the only reliable distinctive character. Total length about 22'5 inches, culmen 

 l - 5, wing 16 - 8, tail 11*5, tarsus 2 - 25. 



Young. Undistinguishable from the young of Milvus migrans. 



The present species, which is very closely allied to Milvus migrans, replaces that species 

 throughout almost the whole of Africa, hut is of rare occurrence out of that continent. 

 According to Erhard it is found in the Cyclades in summer; Von der Muhle possessed two 

 shot in Greece in June and August; and Dr. Kriiper states that he once saw it in Ionia; 

 but I do not find any authentic instance of its occurrence further west in Europe than in 

 Greece; for although Baron J. W. von Midler (J. f. O. 1856, p. 215) believes it to have been 

 observed once in Provence, he only cites as an authority a statement made by a sportsman. 

 It is found in Asia Minor, though it is very rare there. Dr. Kriiper saw one between Turbali 

 and Celat on the 23rd of May; Canon Tristram found it breeding in Palestine, where, however, 

 it is not so common as Milvus migrans; Mr. E. W. Wyatt states (Ibis, 1870, p. 11) that it 

 occurs at Wady Gharandel, in Sinai; and in Egypt it is plentiful: Captain Shelley writes 



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