344 TALCONID^. 



Distribution. Southern Europe, Northern Africa, and South- 

 western Asia, ranging throughout the Indian Peninsula but not 

 farther East. This bird has been only once obtained in Ceylon, 

 but is not rare in the more hilly and jungly districts of Southern 

 India. In the Punjab and N.W. Provinces, including the Hima- 

 layas, and in Sind it is generally distributed. 



Habits, 6,'c. This splendid Eagle lives on mammals and birds of 

 its own killing, and is never known to touch carrion. Jerdon 

 mentions that it is particularly destructive to pigeons. It is much 

 seen on the wing sailing at a considerable height, at other times it 

 perches on a high tree or rock. It breeds on cliffs and on trees, 

 the former perhaps by preference, makes a large nest of sticks, 

 and lays two eggs on a lining of green leaves. The eggs are 

 greenish white, unspotted or faintly blotched and streaked with 

 brown ; they measure about 2*78 by 2"1, and are usually laid in 

 the latter half of December, in January or in February. 



1208. Hieraetus pennatus. The Booted Eagle. 



Falco pennatus, Ginel. Syst. Nat. i, p. 272 (1788). 



Spizaetus milvoides, Jerdon, Madr. Jour. L. S. x, p. 75 (1839). 



Hieraetus pennatus, Blyth, Cat. p. 28 ; id. Ibis, 1866, p. 241 ; Hume, 

 Rough Notes, p. 182 ; Hume ^ Dav. S. F. \i, p. 11 ; Davidson Sf 

 Wend. S. F. vii, p. 74 ; Hume, ibid. p. 198 ; id. Cat. uo. 31 ; id. S. 

 F. X, p. .335 : xi, p. 9 ; Vidal, S. F. ix, p. 30 ; Butler, S. F. ix, 

 p. 372; Sivinhoe, Ibis, 1882, p. 99; Davidson, S. F. x, p. 287; 

 Reid, ibid. p. 450 ; Barnes, Birds Bom,, p. 30. 



Aquila pennata, Layard, A. M. N. H. (2) xii, p. 98 ; Horsf. Sf M. 

 Cat. \, p. 43 ; Jerdon, D. I. i, p. 63 ; id. Ibis, 1871, p. 246 ; A. An- 

 derson, P. Z. S. 1872, p. 74 ; 1875, p. 24 ; Hume, S. F. iii, p. 387 ; 

 Butler, S. F. vii, p. 174 ; St. John, Ibis,_ 1889, p. 152. 



Nisaetus pennatus, Sharjje, Cat. B. M. i, p. 253 ; Hume, S. F. iii, 

 p. 25; Gurney, Ibis, 1877, p. 419; Leyge, Birds Ceyl. p. 40; 

 Biddtdph, Ibis, 1881, p. 41 ; Scully, ibid. p. 420 ; Oates, B. B. ii, 

 p. 189 ; id. in Hume's N. ^ E. 2nd ed. iii, p. 144. 



The Drvarf Eayle, Jerdon ; Bayhati Jmniz, Gilheri Mar, H. ; TJdatal 

 Gedda, T. ; Punja prandu, Tam. : Rajaliija, Cing. 



Coloration. Adult. Forehead and lores whitish ; a narrow black 

 superciliary streak ; head and neck above and on sides fawn- 

 colour or tawny, feathers with black shaft-stripes that are broader 

 on the nape and broader still on the crown ; cheeks and ear- 

 coverts darker ; upper parts brown ; upper back, larger scapulars, 

 and rump dark umber-brown ; tertiaries, smaller scapulars, and 

 wing-coverts brown, with broad whity-brown edges and darker 

 shafts ; larger coverts darker but pale-edged ; quills blackish, 

 secondaries with pale ends ; upper tail-coverts fawn or rufous- 

 brown ; tail-feathers greyish brown above, greyish white beneath, 

 with traces of dark bars, the last one much broader, and pale tips ; 

 lower parts, including wing-lining, buffy white, with black longi- 

 tudinal streaks often fringed with ferruginous, these are thickly 

 marked on the chin, more thinly on the throat and breast, 



