Calcutta, with Notes by H. E. Strickland. 37 



Eagle of Latham, nos. 74 and 77 : this bird is very common in Lower 

 Bengal, and both sexes become wholly of a dusky black colour with 

 full maturity, which renders the name niveus bestowed by Temminck 

 peculiarly inappropriate * ; in Southern India it does not appear to 

 have been met with. 2. N. cirratus (Latham), founded on the 

 Crested Indian Falcon of Willughby ; F. cristatellns , Tem., but cer- 

 tainly not Spizaetus cristatellus of Jardine and Selby's ' Illustrations 

 of Ornithology ' ; N. nipalensis, crested variety, and since N. pal- 

 lidus, Hodgson : nearly allied to the last, but distinguished by its 

 splendid drooping occipital crest, which in a fine specimen before me 

 (procured so near as at Midnapore) measures 5^ inches in length, 

 whereas in N. caligatus (?) there is invariably but a slight indication 

 of the crest common to the three other Indian species of this group ; 

 the shape of the dorsal feathers also well distinguishes this species 

 from the preceding one. 3. N. pulcher, Hodgson ; and 4. N. Kie- 

 neri, which had already been thus identified by Mr. Jerdon. 



To Limnaetus may be referred the Morphnus hastatus of Lesson, 

 v. Spizaetus punctatus of Jerdon's ' Supplement,' and Cawnpore Eagle, 

 Latham, of which I have recently obtained two specimens in this vi- 

 cinity, an adult and a young one ; and Mr. Jerdon informs me that 

 he also has lately procured several, among which are pale varieties 

 analogous to those of Aquila n&via (Vindhiana f). 



I have also procured Aquila mogilnik (imperialist ; Aq. n&via (two 

 adults beautifully spotted, another adult totally devoid of spots, but 

 the feathers of both silky and finely glossed with purplish), the Aq. 

 fulvescens, Gray, is the young ; and several specimens of Aq. pennata, 

 vel Spizaetus milvoides of Jerdon. This last is of course the Indian 

 variety of Buteo lagopus noticed by Latham : and the reference of the 

 same author to the Kites of India, which occurs in his description of 

 the British kite, refers of course to the common Indian species, his 

 Cheela Eagle, nos. 66, 111, and 112. 



Nos. 1 7 to 20, Fishing Eagles. I shot a specimen of Haliaetus Macei 

 a few days ago, in a transitional state of plumage, passing from the 

 H. lineatus of Hardwicke's drawings into the H. unicolor, ibid. ; which 

 latter I see is considered by Prof. Brandt as probably identical with 

 Falco leucoryphos, Latham : — vide vol. xi. p. 114, ante. That I have 

 rightly identified the H. unicolor, Gray, there can be no doubt what- 

 ever ; and I very strongly suspect that to the F. leucoryphos must be 

 referred the F. ichthyaetos, Horsfield, described in immature plumage, 

 and which would now accordingly rank as Ichthyaetus leucoryphos. 

 This bird is very common in the Bengal Soonderbuns. The Hal. 

 blagrus is considerably less so, at least to judge from the comparative 

 number of specimens which are brought me, but this also is far from 

 being rare : it is evidently the Maritime Eagle, no. 67, of Latham, 



* This is analogous to the change which converts Buteo lagopus into the 

 B. Sancti Johannis, Auct. Mr. M c Gillivray was unaware of the occurrence 

 of this bird in the dark plumage within the British Islands, but a specimen 

 in the dress adverted to wa3 obtained in Epping Forest by Mr. Doubleday. 



f On further consideration, I feel very doubtful respecting the distinctness 

 of this from F. limnaetus, Horsfield. 



