ACCIPITRES. 
FALC0NLD2E. 
AQUILINE. 
Genus ELANUS. 
Bill weak, the tip considerably produced, margin slightly festooned. Nostrils oval, and 
protected by the long loral bristles. Wings very long, reaching to or beyond the tip of the tail 
when closed, the 2nd quill the longest, and the 1st and 3rd slightly shorter ; the distance between 
the tips of the secondaries and those of the primaries almost equal to length of tail. Tail slightly 
sinuated, or even at the tip. Tarsus short and stout, covered throughout with small reticulate 
scales, its anterior portion feathered for more than half its length. Toes very strong and short, 
inner toe very slightly longer than the outer one. Claws well curved, acute, and all but the 
centre one rounded beneath. 
ELANUS CiEKULEUS. 
(THE BLACK-SHOULDERED KITE.) 
Falco cceruleus, Desf. Mem. Acad. R. des Sciences, 1787, p. 503, pi. 15. 
Falco vociferans, Lath. Ind. Orn. i. p. 46 (1790). 
Falco melanopterus, Daud. Traite, ii. p. 152 (1800). 
Elanus ccesius, Savign. Syst. Ois. d’Egypte, p. 274 (1809), 
Elanus melanopterus , Leach, Zool. Misc. iii. p. 5, pi. 122 (1817) ; Gould, B. of Eur. i. pi. 31 
(1837) ; Gray, Gen. B. i. p. 26 (1845) ; Kelaart, Prodromus, Cat. p. 115 ; Layard, Ann. 
& Mag. Nat. Hist. xii. 1853, p. 104; Jerdon, B. of Ind. i. p. 112 (1862); Layard, B. 
S. Afr. p. 26 (1867); Hume, Rough Notes, p. 338 (1870); Shelley, Ibis, 1871, p. 44; 
ILoldsworth, P. Z. S. 1872, p. 415; Hume, Str. Feath. 1873, p. 21; Jerd. ‘Nests and 
Eggs,’ p. 56 (1873) ; Legge, Ibis, 1874, p. 10 ; Butler, Str. Feath. 187 5, p. 449 ; Hume, 
Str. Feath. 1876, p. 462; Inglis, Str. Feath. 1877, p. 16. 
Elanoides ccesius, Bonn, et Vieill. Enc. Meth. iii. p. 1206 (1823). 
Buteo vociferus. Bon. et Vieill. Enc. Meth. iii. p. 1220. 
Elanus minor, Bp. Consp. i. p. 22 (1850). 
Elanus cceruleus, Strickl. Orn. Syn. p. 137 (1855); Shelley, B. of Egypt, p. 198 (1872) ; Sharpe, 
Cat. B. i. p. 336 ; Legge, Ibis, 1875, p. 279 ; Dresser, B. of Eur. pts. xxxv. xxxvi. (1875). 
La Petite Buse criarde, Sonn. Voy. Ind. ii. p. 184 (1782). 
Criard Falcon , Lath. Gen. Syn. Suppl. i. p. 38 (1787); Black-winged Kite, Europeans in 
India. 
Kapasi, Hind. ; Chanwa, Nepalese ; Adavi Bamadasu, Tel., lit. “ Jungle-Tern ” ( apud Jerdon). 
Ukkussa, Sinhalese, West Province. 
Adult male. Length to front of cere 11 '4 to 12-0 ; culmen from cere 075 ; wing 104 to 108 ; tail 5-2 to 5-6 ; tarsus 
1-3 to 1-4; mid toe 1-0 to IT ; claw (straight) 05 to 0-6 ; height of bilhat cere 035. The wings exceed the tail 
in old birds.' 
