ELANOIDES.— ELANUS. 97 



to the Kite's mouth while the latter were in full flight. The native hunter expressed 

 surprise at seeing so many of these birds together, as they are usually found near 

 Coban in pairs, or at most in parties of three or four. 



The nest is composed of twigs and moss, generally built in a tree at a great height. 

 The eggs are ashy-white or cream-colour, beautifully spotted and blotched with brown 

 and rufous ; they are usually two in number, but occasionally three or four. 



ELAN US. 

 Elanus, Savigny, Syst. Ois. d'Egypte, p. 274 (1809) ; Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. i. p. 336 (1874) . 



Although the genus Elanus is found in every temperate and subtropical region of 

 the globe, only one of the five species known is American, and this inhabits the 

 Southern United States, Central America, and the greater part of South America. 

 The species are all similar in colour, being of a clear grey, with a black patch on 

 the wing-coverts, whence the common name of "Black-shouldered Kites." They 

 have a short rounded tail, the wings reaching to the tip, and the tarsus naked in 

 front and covered with minute roundish scales, but differ from Elanoides in the claws 

 not being grooved beneath {cf. Ridgway, Man. N. Am. Birds, 2nd edit. p. 222). The 

 palate, according to Dr. Shufeldt (Ibis, 1891, p. 230), is unlike that of other Accipitrine 

 birds, being non-desmognathous, " as its maxillo-palatines neither unite across the 

 middle line nor come in contact either with the vomer or with the nasal septum." 



1. Elanus leucurus. 



Alcon bianco, Azara, Apunt. i. p. 165 \ 



Milvus leucurus, Vieill. N. Diet. d'Hist. Nat. xx. p. 563 ^ 



Elanus leucurus, Cassin, Birds Calif. & Texas, p. 106'; Scl. P. Z. S. 1857, p. 201*; Sol. & Salv. 



Ibis, 1859, p. 220 '; Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. i. p. 339 " ; Sumichrast, La Nat. v. p. 237 '; 



Bendire, Life Hist. N. Amer. Birds, p. 173, pi. v. ff. 3, 4^ Fisher, Bull. U. S. Dep. Agr. 



no. 3, p. 23'; A. O. U. Check-1. N. Amer. Birds, 2nd ed. p. 126". 



Supra griseus, fronte et corpore toto subtus albis ; tectrieibus alarum minoribus et mediis nigris ; subalaribus 

 albis, plaga magna nigra ; cauda medialiter pallide grisea ; rectricibus lateralibus albis : rostro nigro, 

 cera et pedibus flavis. Long, tota circa 14-5, alae 12-0, caudae 7-0, tarsi 1-8. (Descr. exempl. ex Orizaba, 

 Mexico. Mus. nostr.) 



Juv. Supra brunneus, plumis rufo vel albido marginatis ; rectricibus subterminaliter scbistaceo nigro trans- 

 fasciatis : subtus albus, rufo lavatus et fusco striatus. (Descr. exempl. ex Buenos Ayres. Mus. Brit.) 



Hah. North America, Southern United States from South Carolina and Southern 

 Illinois to Texas and California ^^. — Mexico, Jalapa {SalU % Orizaba {Sumichrast ^ 

 F. J). G.), Mirador (Sumichrast''); Guatemala (Skinner^). — South America 

 generally, from Venezuela and Guiana to Patagonia and Chile ^. 



The breeding-range of this Kite, so far as is known, is confined to South Carohna, 

 Florida, the Indian Territory, Texas, and the southern portions of California ; though 

 BIOL, centr.-amer., Avcs, Vol. III., January 1901. 13 



