Above deep bluish-ash, with the inner webs of the secondaries appreciably paler, sometimes abruptly white. Wing, 11.60–12.65; tail, 6.80–7.80; culmen, .65–.80; tarsus, 1.20–1.50; middle toe, .94–1.20. Hab. Tropical and subtropical America … var. leucurus.
Above pale ash, with the inner webs of the secondaries hardly, or not at all, appreciably paler than the outer. Wing, 11.00–12.50; tail, 6.20–7.00; culmen, .70–.77; tarsus, 1.10–1.66; middle toe, 1.05–1.08. Hab. Western Australia … var. axillaris.[71]
Black patch on the lining of the wing extending over the whole of the lesser coverts; lesser coverts, on the outside, conspicuously bordered anteriorly with white.
Similar to var. axillaris, except as above. Wing, 11.75–12.30; tail, 6.30–7.00; culmen, .75–.80; tarsus, 1.10–1.40; middle toe, 1.15–1.25. Hab. Southern Australia … var. scriptus.[72]
2. E. cæruleus. No black on lining of the wing. First quill usually longer than the third, never very much shorter; second longest. Colors darker than in E. leucurus.
Wing, 12.00; tail, 6.10; culmen, .75; tarsus, 1.25; middle toe, 1.20. No ashy tinge on side of breast. Hab. Southern Europe and North Africa … var. cæruleus.[73]
Wing, 9.50–10.70; tail, 5.40–5.75; culmen, .65–.70; tarsus, 1.05–1.10; middle toe, 1.00–1.10. Sides of the breast strongly tinged with ashy. Hab. Southern Africa and India … var. minor.[74]
Elanus leucurus (Vieillot).
BLACK-SHOULDERED KITE; WHITE-TAILED KITE.
Milvus leucurus, Vieill. Nouv. Dict. Hist. Nat. XX, 556, 1816; Enc. Méth. III, 1205, 1823. Elanoides leucurus, Vieill. Enc. Méth. III, 1205, 1823. Elanus leucurus, Bonap. Eur. & N. Am. Birds, p. 4, 1838; Consp. Av. p. 22, 1850.—Gray, Gen. B. fol. sp. 4, 1844; List B. Brit. Mus. p. 46, 1844.—Rich. Schomb. Reis. Brit. Guiana, p. 735.—Cass. B. Cal. & Tex. p. 106, 1854; Birds N. Am. 1858, 37.—Kaup, Monog. Falc. Cont. Orn. 1850, p. 60.—Heerm. P. R. R. Rept. VII, 31, 1857.—Coop. & Suck. P. R. R. Rept. XII, ii, 149, 1860.—Coues, Prod. Orn. Ariz. p. 12, 1866.—Strickl. Orn. Syn. I, 138, 1855.—Gray, Hand List, I, 28, 1869. Falco melanopterus, Bonap. Journ. Ac. Phil. V, 28; Ann. Lyc. N. Y. II, 31; Isis, 1832, p. 1137. Milvus dispar, Less. Man. Orn. I, 99, 1828. Falco dispar, Bonap. Am. Orn. pl. xi, f. 1, 1825; Ann. Lyc. N. Y. II, 435.—Aud. Am. B. pls. cccli, ccclvii; Orn. Biog. IV, 367, 1831.—Temm. pl. cl. 319 (Juv.).—James. (Wils.) Am. Orn. IV. 13, 1831. Elanus dispar, Cuv. Reg. An. (ed. 2), I, 334, 1829.—Less. Tr. Orn. p. 72, 1831.—Jard. (Wils.) Am. Orn. III, 378, 1832.—Bridg. Proc. Zoöl. Soc. pt. ii, p. 109; Ann. Nat. Hist. XIII, 500.—Aud. Syn. B. p. 13, 1831.—Brew. (Wils.) Synop. p. 685, 1852.—Nutt. Man. p. 93, 1833. E. leucurus, Brewer, Oölogy.