222 Capt. L. H. Irby on Birds 



noticed one other at an elevation of nearly 10,000 feet, about fifteen 

 or twenty miles from Milum, one of the passes into Thibet. 

 This Eagle cannot be a very common bird in Kumaon, as during 

 two months there I only saw these two. The specimen which I 

 obtained, which is now in the Norwich Museum, had the inside 

 of the mouth and throat covered with small pieces of egg-shell, 

 apparently that of the Cheer [Phasianus wallicJdi), or Chickore 

 {Caccabis chukar) ; hence, of course, Jerdon's synonym ^' ovi- 

 vorus." Is not this bird nearly allied to the Honey Buzzards ? 

 The European species {Pernis apivora) has been known to feed, 

 in a wild state, on Thrushes' eggs (Zool. p. 3707), and the Marsh 

 Harrier {Circus aruffinosus) has also been found to do the same. 

 The irides of the Black Eagle are yellow. 



22. BuTEO RUFiNUS. (Loug-leggcd Buzzard.) 



Common near wooded jungle. 1 took four large rats (swal- 

 lowed whole) out of the stomach of one. Tiie irides of this 

 Buzzard are golden-coloured. 



23. Pandion haliaetus. (Osprey.) 



Not observed in Oudh, but doubtless occurs there, as it is 

 "common throughout India in all suitable localities" according 

 to Mr. Blyth's Catalogue. I obtained it at Nynee Tal, at an 

 elevation of about 5500 feet, in June 1859, when it was fre- 

 quently seen there. The shikarees, or native hunters, told me 

 that it nested at Bheem Tal, another mountain lake at a lower 

 elevation, fifteen miles from Nynee Tal. 



24). HaliaIstus macei. (Mace's Sea Eagle.) 

 Irides dark brown. This "Sea" Eagle is very common in 

 Oudh in the cold season, and always seen in the vicinity of rivers 

 and jheels ; it makes a very large nest of sticks, on tall trees 

 close to water. I never obtained the eggs myself, though some 

 men of my regiment took the eggs on the 19th of November, 

 1859, but ate them on the spot, to my intense disgust. 



I repeatedly found the young in January and February. There 

 were never more than two, and sometimes only one, in each 

 nest ; hence I conclude the number of eggs to be usually two. I 

 brought up three young birds, one of which (pinioned) lived for 

 eighteen months. The other two used to sit on the top of my 



