342 rALCONLDiE. 



have buff shaft-stripes ; abdomen generally paler ; lower tail- 

 coverts buff ; thigh-coverts, if not striped, whitish. The striation 

 on the underparts is lost after the first moult, but the spots of 

 the upper plumage do not entu-ely disappear till the bird is thi'ee 

 or four years old. 



Bill plumbeous blue at base, black at tip : cere, gape, and feet 

 yellow ; irides hazel-brown. 



Length of male about 24 ; tail 9-5 ; \dng 18 ; tarsus 3-8 ; bill 

 from gape 2*3 : the female very little larger. 



Distribution. This species is only known to occur in India, 

 where it is a permanent resident. It is common in parts of the 

 Gangetic plain, but rare to the westward, unknown in Sind, more 

 common in the Gangetic delta, and especially in Eastern Bengal. 

 A specimen was obtained by Blyth from Arrakan ; Jerdon states 

 that he met with this species once or twice in Southern India ; and 

 it has been observed breeding in Eaipur, Sambalpur, and Mysore. 



Habits, Sfc. Very similar to those of A. maculata. The present 

 species was observed by Mr. Frith in Mymensingh to plunder the 

 nests of Sturnopastor contra. It breeds in April and May, and 

 lays generally a single egg, sometimes two, in the usual stick-nest 

 on a high tree. An egg measures 2"6 by 1*95. 



Genus HIERAETUS, Kaup, 1844. 



With this genus commences the series of Hawk-Eagles as they 

 have very appropriately been tenned. They are birds of more 

 slender build, with smaller bills, longer and more slender tarsi, and 

 longer tail than the true Eagles, and most of them are, in some 

 phase of plumage, partly or wholly Avhite beneath. 



This genus has a moderately strong bill, much hooked at the 

 end, and with a prominent festoon to the upper mandible ; the 

 nostrils are elliptical and oblique ; wing long, 4tli quill longest, 

 primaries exceeding secondaries by far more than the length of 

 the tarsus ; tail nearly square, more than half the length of the 

 wing ; tarsi feathered ; toes long, outer toe (without claw) a little 

 longer than inner ; claws large, sharp, well curved ; inner and 

 hind claw both large, the latter the larger. 



The type of Nisaetus, Hodgs,, the name used by Jerdon, Sharpe, 

 and othei's for this genus, was Sjdzaetus nijialensis, and the generic 

 description does not apply to the present group, although Bonelli's 

 Eagle was included by Hodgson (Ibis, 1894, p. 288). The type of 

 Hieraetus is //. piennatus, the Booted Eagle ; but I follow Sharpe 

 in placing the Booted and Bonelli's Eagles in the same genus. 

 Four species are known, of which two are Palsearctic and Indian, 

 one African, and one Australian. 



Key to the Species. 



a. Larger : wing 19-21 H. fasciatus, p. 343. 



b. Smaller : wing 14-16-5 R. 2>emiatus, p. 344. 



