( 44 ) 

 OSPEEY, 



PANDION HALIAETUS (l). 



Description. — Length about 22 

 inches. Bill black, cere, gape and 

 eyelids dull greenish blue. Feet and 

 legs pale yellowish green, claws black. 

 Iris yellow. 



Head and neck are white, crown and 

 nape streaked brown. A brownish 

 band through each eye and down the 

 sides of the neck. Upper parts dark 

 greyish brown. Tail brown, more or 

 less distinctly barred. Wing quills 

 black. Under parts white with brown 

 streaks in the breast. 



Young birds have more barring on 

 the tail and little or no brown on the 

 breast. 



Distribution. — Cosmopolitan. Ke- 

 sident in the Yangtse Valley. Various 

 sub-species have been described in 

 different parts of the world. 



Nest and Eggs. — The location of the 

 nest is quite varied, usually in the tops 

 of tall trees, but where it is protected 

 it may build close to the ground or 

 even on the ground. The nest is built 

 of large sticks, twigs, etc., and lined 

 with softer material, as grass, fibrous 

 bark, moss, etc. Eggs, usually two, 

 sometimes four, in a clutch, are ex- 

 tremely variable in color. Sometimes 

 dull white to chocolate brown unmark- 

 ed, but usually they are yellowish 

 white, heavily marked brown especially 

 at the larger end. 



Sub-Family, Milvinae, Kites, Buzzard Eagles, 

 Sea Eagles. 



These birds, differing widely in out- 

 ward appearance, are associated for 

 anatomical reasons. 



