232 MANUAL OF PHILIPPINE BIRDS. 



Genus HALI^ETUS Savigny, 1809. 



Bill stout, culnien straight at base, then greatly curved, with a long 

 overhanging hook, edge sinuate; tail rounded, its feathers wide and 

 2)ointed ; tarsus heavy, feathered for a short distance in front ; a row of 

 large transverse plates in front, a row of large hexagonal scales behind, 

 sides covered with small hexagonal scales. 



190. HALI/EETUS LEUCOGASTER (Gnielin). 



WHITE-BREASTED SEA EAGLE. 



Falco leucogaster Gmelin, Syst. Nat. (1788), 1, pt. 1, 257. 

 Haliaetus leucogaster Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1874), 1, 307. 

 Haliaetus leucogaster Sharpe, Hand-List (1899), 1, 267; Gates, Cat. Birds' 

 Eggs (1902), 2, 279; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 43. 



Ma-tia-ol', Ticao, Manila. 



Bantayan (McGregor) ; Batan (McGregor) ; Basilan (Bourns d- Worcester, 

 McGregor) ; Bohol (McGregor) ; Bongao (Everett) ; Calamianes (Bourns <C- Wor- 

 cester) ; Calayan (McGregor) ; Camiguin N. (McGregor); Cebu (McGregor) ; 

 East Bolod (M earns) ; Fuga (Whitehead) ; Luzon (Bourns d Worcester) ; Masbate 

 (Bourns cC- Worcester, McGregor) ; Mindanao (Steere Exp.) ; Mindoro (Bourns d- 

 Worcester, McGregor, Porter) ; Palawan (Whitehead, Platen, Bourns d- Worcester, 

 White) ; Romblon (Bourns d- Worcester) ; Samar (Steere Exp., Bourns d Worces- 

 ter, Whitehead) ; Semirara (McGregor & Worcester) ; Sibuyan (Bourns d Worces- 

 ter, McGregor) ; Siquijor (Bourns d Worcester) ; Sulu (Bourns d Worcester) ; 

 Tablas (Bourns d Worcester, Celestino) ; Tawi Tawi (Bourns d Worcester) ; Ticao 

 (McGregor); V«rde (McGregor); Y'Ami (McGregor). Indian Peninsula; Indo- 

 Chinese Provinces; Malay Peninsula to Australia and Oceania. 



Adult. — Entire head, neck, and lower parts white, many of the feathers 

 with blackish shafts; tail blackish, its terminal third white; primaries 

 blackish with white bases; axillars and wing-lining white; remainder of 

 wings and upper parts bluish slate-gray, with a slight mixture of brown. 

 Male from Ticao : Iris dark ; bill at base and cere horn-blue ; bill at tip 

 and nails black; legs and toes white. Length, 685; wing, 550; tail, 230; 

 culmen from base, 53 ; tarsus, 91. The female is said to be slightly larger. 



Young. — Head, chin, and throat huffy or pale yellowish white, ]|iore 

 or less streaked wdth light brown; general color brown, darker above, 

 many of the feathers with lighter brown or whitish shaft-lines wjiich 

 widen at the tips ; primaries black with whitish bases ; end of tail browai, 

 basal tw^o-thirds white mottled with brown. 



The white-breasted sea eagle is widely distributed but nowhere in the 

 Philippines is it abundant. In adult plumage it is easily identified by 

 its white under parts. Its nest consists of a mass of sticks and is usually 

 supported by the branches of some large tree. Islets on which there 

 are but a few trees are in particular favor with this species. The 

 eggs are usually spheroidal and white with a few faint markings of 

 reddish brown. 



