166 A PRACTICAL HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS. 



Key to species of genus Milvus. 

 Underside and nape rufous, fork of tail 70-100 mm. . M. milvus, p. 166 

 Underside and nape dark brown, fork of tail 30-40 mm. M. migrans, p. 169 



MILVUS MILVUS 



263. Milvus milvus milvus (L.) — THE KITE. 



Falco Milvus Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., ed. x, i, p. 89 (1758 — Europe, Asia, 



Africa. Restricted typical locality : S. Sweden). 



Milvus regalis, Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B., 1, p. 74. 



Milvus ictinus (Savigny), Yarrell, 1, p. 92 ; Saunders, p. 335. 



Description. — Adult male and female. Winter and summer. — 

 Crown and nape white with varying amount of rufous, closely 

 streaked brown-black, feathers narrow and pointed ; upper mantle 

 brown-black, feathers somewhat pointed and with broad chestnut 

 edgings, rest of mantle and back same, but feathers rounder and 

 with narrower and darker rufous edgings and tips ; scapulars 

 same but browner and concealed portions of feathers with narrow 

 brown bars ; upper tail-coveits chestnut with black shaft-streaks ; 

 feathers of lores with black bristle-like tips and white tufts at base ; 

 ear-coverts, sides of neck, chin and throat white narrowly streaked 

 black, feathers loosely constructed ; rest of under-parts chestnut, 

 feathers of breast widely streaked black with pale buff edgings at 

 tips ; flanks rather less widely streaked, belly narrowly streaked, 

 and centre of belly and under tail-coverts with only black shaft- 

 lines ; axillaries as flanks, under wing-coverts with large black 

 centres and lowest series with dark brown centres and bars and 

 greyish edgings and tips, sometimes tinged rufous ; tail-feathers 

 chestnut, extreme tips and bases of inner webs pale buff to whitish, 

 outer pair narrowly barred black and with a good deal of black at 

 tip and on outer web, penultimate pair with less black at tip and 

 on outer web, next pair with only a little black at tip of outer 

 web and bars usually confined to inner web, next pair usually 

 with very incomplete bars on basal portion only and central pair 

 with only spots, which lengthen to short bars at base under the 

 tail-coverts ; outer primaries with long tips and outer webs black, 

 inner webs white with some blackish mottling, inner primaries 

 with outer webs greyish-brown often tinged rufous and inner webs 

 narrowly barred black ; outer secondaries brown-black, paler on 

 inner webs with inconspicuous bars, inner secondaries brown 

 tinged rufous, white at base of inner webs and barred across both 

 webs ; wing-coverts much as rest of upper-parts but with wider 

 chestnut edgings, lesser coverts with black restricted to broad 

 streaks. N.B. — Bases of body-feathers and under-down white. 

 There is considerable individual variation in depth of chestnut, 

 but in worn plumage this is always paler. This plumage is acquired 

 by complete moult but the period cannot be defined as the only 

 moulting adult examples examined were dated Oct. (2) and Feb. (2). 



