MILVUS MELANOTIC 



(BLACK-EARED KITE.) 



Accipiter milvus, Pall. Zoogr. Ross.-As. i. p. 356 (1811, partim). 



Milvus melanotis, Temm. & Schleg. Faun. Jap., Aves, p. 14, pis. v., v. b (1850). 



Milvus niger, var. melanotis, Schrenck, Reis. Amurl., Vog. p. 234 (1860). 



Milvus niger (nee. Bp.), Radde, Eeis. im Slid. Ost-Sib. ii. p. 135, pi. i. fig. 1 (1863). 



Milvus glaucopus, Eversm. Hist. Nat. Orenb. iii. p. 39 (1868). 



Milvus major, Hume, Rough Notes, ii. p. 326 (1870). 



Milvus govinda (nee Sykes), Swinhoe, P. Z. S. 1871, p. 341. 



Milvus ater, /3. glaucopus, Severtzoff, J. f. Orn. 3875, p. 170. 



Korshun tschemouchey, Russ.; Achak-Koyruk-sa, Mizan-sa, Turki ; Charabsyr, Burjat; 

 Pisskch, Giljak; Pitschu, on the Lower Ussuri; Chiutscha, on the Upper Ussuri; Tombi f 

 Japanese. 



Figurm notabiles. 



Temm. & Schleg. Faun. Jap., Aves, pis. v., v. b; Radde, Reis. im Siid. Ost-Sib. pi. i. fig. 1. 



Ad. M. migranti similis, sed capite et collo rufescenti-fusco, nee albido, nigro-striato, regione parotiea nigri- 

 cante ; corpore subtus pallidiore quam in M. govinda : remigibus ad basin in pogonio interno albis. 



Adult Male (Tunka, May 10th). Resembles Milvus migrans, but differs in having the feathers on the head 

 and neck with rufous-brown and not with white margins, in having the ear-coverts blackish, and the 

 underparts paler and less rufous in tinge, and it is also readily distinguished in having the inner web 

 of the quills white at the base, making a conspicuous white patch on the under surface of the wing : 

 bill bluish ; cere yellowish white ; iris hazel-brown ; legs dull china-white ; claws blackish. Total 

 length about 25 inches, culmen l - 7, gape l - 75, wing 19 - 3, tail 13 - 0, tarsus 23. 



The present species has an extensive range, being found as far west as the Government of 

 Perm in Russia, and as far east as the Pacific Ocean. It is also found in India, and has been 

 met with in Siberia as far north as 64° N. lat. According to Prof. Menzbier it breeds in the 

 Ural and on the Serebrianka River in the Perm Government, and is tolerably common in the 

 Kirghis Steppes. According to Mr. Zarudny it is a somewhat rare migrant in Transcaspia, but 

 must occasionally remain there to breed, as is evident by his having obtained a young bird in 

 1884. He remarks that he frequently saw it at Ahal-Teke. Messrs. Radde and Walter do not 

 appear to have met with it in Transcaspia. 



I do not find it recorded as having been met with in Persia, but it is found in Turkestan. 

 Dr. Severtzoff, however, appeared to be doubtful if the birds obtained by him were true 

 M. melanotis, as he informed me that they seemed to him to be varieties of M. migrans with 

 somewhat broader dark ear-coverts. Mr. Scully, however, certainly met with it in Eastern 

 Turkestan, and states (Orn. E. Turk. p. 87) that this species was the only Kite which he 

 observed in Eastern Turkestan, where it is tolerably common, especially on the plains. It was 



2q 



