Mr. R. B. Sharpens Catalogue of Accipitres. 453 



the ' Proceedings of the California Academy of Science ' for 

 1873-74j the only Sea-Eagle given as an inhabitant of the 

 Aleutian Islands is H. leucocephalus , a species exceedingly 

 well known as taking the place of H. albicUla throughout 

 Northern America, with the exception of Greenland. 



Before leaving the subject of H. albicilla, I may mention that 

 the very curious ash-coloured specimen from Ireland which 

 was living many years ago in the Gardens of the Zoological 

 Society, and which was figured in Meyer's ^ British Birds/ 

 is now preserved in the Norwich Museum. 



The pure white head, which distinguishes the North- 

 American H. leucocephalus in its adult plumage, is also a 

 characteristic of the adult dress of two other species of this 

 genus, H. vocifer and H. leucogaster, the latter of which is 

 remarkable as being the most purely oceanic of the Sea- 

 Eagles, both in its habits, and also in its widely extended 

 range over the seas and islands of the east, which is well 

 epitomized in Mr. Sharpens volume, and more particularly 

 detailed at p. 2 of Count T. Salvadori's recent ' Prodromus 

 Ornithologise Papuasise et Moluccarum.' 



H. vocifer is especially noticeable as]one of the most beauti- 

 fully colom-ed of the birds of prey, and is certainly " facile 

 princeps " amongst the Sea-Eagles in this respect. 



Mr. Sharpe gives the habitat of H. vocifer as " the whole 

 of Africa/' but this is not quite correct, as it is certainly 

 absent from the most northern parts of that continent, and, 

 so far as I am aware, does not occur, except perhaps very 

 accidentally, to the north of the twentieth degree of north 

 latitude. 



Few facts connected with the Sea-Eagles are more curious 

 than the circumstance of one species, H. vociferoides, being 

 peculiar to the island of Madagascar, and even there, to judge 

 from the very small number of specimens that have reached 

 Europe*, existing, probably, in very limited numbers. 



It may naturally be expected that this Eagle should some- 

 times wander to the smaller islands adjacent to Madagascar; 



* I am not aware of the existence of a single entire specimen of the 

 Madagascar Sea-Eagle in any museum in this country. 



SER. IV. VOL. II. 2 I 



