THE BEAHMINY KITE. 
201 
and made of sticks, and it is used by the same birds year after year. It is 
generally situated near the summit of a tall tree on the banks of a creek. 
The eggs J three in number, are dull white. 
Genus HALIASTUE, Selhy. 
575. HALIASTUE, INDUS. 
THE BHAHMINY KITE. 
Falco indus, Bodd. Tail. PI. Enl. p. 25. Haliastur indus, Jerd.B. Ind. i. p. 101 ; 
Hume, Rough Notes, ii. p. 316; id. Nests and Eggs, p. 51 ; Sharpe, Cat. Birds B. 
Mus. i. p. 313 ; Hume, S. F. iii. p. 35 ; Bl. B. Burm. p. 64 ; Oates, S. F. v. 
p. 142; David et Oust. Ois. Chine, 15 ; Legge, Birds Ceylon,^. 76; Gurney,Ihis^ 
1878, p. 460; Hume c^- Bav. S. F. vi. p. 22 ; Cripps, S. F. vii. p. 251; Hu77ie, 
S. F. viii. p. 82 ; Scully, S. F. viii. p. 227 ; Bingham, S. F. ix. p. 145 ; Oates, 
S. F. X. p. 181. 
Description, — Male and female. Head, neck, upper back, breast and 
upper abdomen white, each feather with a distinct dark shaft-line ; the 
first six primaries with the basal half chestnut and the terminal half 
black j with these exceptions the whole plumage is chestnut, darkest on 
the back and palest on the tail, which is albescent at the tip; the shafts of 
all the feathers except those of the tail are very dark brown. 
The young have the head, neck and lower parts pale rufous-white, the 
shaft-lines distinct and the feathers centred paler ; the back, rump and 
Tipper tail- coverts are dark brown strongly tinged with maroon ; the tail 
is brown, tipped fulvous ; the quills are dark brown, inclining to rufous at 
the base of the inner webs ; the upper wing-coverts fulvous-brown. In 
December birds may be found in every stage of plumage, with a mixture 
of old and new feathers, the young being then in the act of assuming the 
adult plumage previously to breeding. 
Iris brown ; bill and cere dark brown ; legs greenish yellow. 
Length 18 inches, tail 7, wing 15, tarsus 2, bill from gape 1*4. The 
female is considerably larger. 
The Brahminy Kite is found abundantly over the whole of British 
Burmah except in the thick forests of the higher hills. 
It extends to India and China, and is also found in Cochin China and 
a portion of the Malay peninsula. To the south it is replaced by H. inter- 
medins, a very closely allied race, in which the shaft-stripes on the head and 
breast are narrower and less distinct. 
This well-known bird is a constant resident in Burmah and extremely 
