78 BULLETIN 186, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



stomach of one contained fishes; that of the other, fishes, a small 

 snake, and feathers of a grebe. 



These birds had the irides brown ; the orbital skin, lores, and eye- 

 lids plumbeous-blue ; the maxilla black ; the mandible black, with the 

 basal half plumbeous-blue; the rictus and interior of the mouth 

 plumbeous-blue ; the cere yellow ; the feet and toes yellow ; the claws 

 black. 



This is a large, heavy harrier, whose flight is much less buoyant 

 than that of melanoleucos. The adult male has the head, hindneck, 

 throat, breast, and coverts along the forearm light rufous to buffy 

 white, heavily streaked with black or dark brown ; the remaining un- 

 derparts rufous with black shaft streaks; the back, scapulars, and most 

 wing coverts dark brown, edged rufous ; the upper tail coverts mixed 

 white, gray, and rufous; the tail silvery gray; the primaries black; 

 the secondaries and greater wing coverts silvery gray, forming a broad 

 band across the wing ; the basal half of the underwing pure white, the 

 rest black. The adult female has the head, hindneck, and upper back 

 dark brown, heavily streaked with white ; the back", coverts, and scapu- 

 lars dark brown with rufous edgings; the upper tail coverts white, 

 with rufous spots or bars; the tail gray-brown, crossed by about five 

 more or less distinct dark bars ; the underparts white, streaked every- 

 where with rufous, the streaks more brownish on the throat and breast. 

 Immatures are generally dark chocolate-brown above and below, some- 

 times dark rufous on the abdomen, with the throat, crown, and hind- 

 neck white to buffy, with or without blackish shaft streaks, but there 

 are many intermediate stages between the immature and adult 

 plumages. 



SPILORNIS CHEELA BURMANICUS Kirke Swann 



Burmese Serpent Eagle 



Spilornis cheela burmanicus Kikke Swann, A synoptical list of the Accipitres, 



1920, p. 81 (Jobin, Thayetmyo, Pegu, Burma). 

 Spilornis cheela rutherfordi, Gyldenstolpe, Kungl. Svenska Vet.-Akad. Handl., 



1913, p. 62 (Mae Yom river) ; 1916, p. 127 (Khun Tan) ; Journ. Nat. Hist. 



Soc. Siam, 1915, p. 234 (listed). 

 Spilornis cheela burmanicus, Gyldenstolpe, Ibis, 1£20, p. 745 ("Throughout the 



country"). — Geeenway, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., 1940, p. 194 (Chiang Mai). 

 Spilornis cheela ricketti, de Schauensee, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 



1929, p. 577 (Doi Suthep, Chiang Mai). 

 Haematomis cheela ricketti, Detgnan, Journ. Siam Soc. Nat. Hist. Suppl., 1931, 



p. 165 (Chiang Mai, Doi Suthep). 

 Haematomis cheela burmanicus, Deignan, Journ. Siam. Soc. Nat. Hist. Suppl., 



1936, p. 78 (Chiang Mai, Doi Suthep). 



From the plains to the mountain summits, the serpent eagle is a com- 

 mon permanent resident in forested districts throughout the northern 

 provinces. In Stockholm are eight adults and two juveniles, without 

 dates, all taken by Eisenhof er at Khun Tan. I have collected this bird 



