SPIZAETTTS. 351 



young pea-fowl, jungle-fowl, &c., on which it pounces." It also 

 feeds on squirrels, lizards, &c. It but rarely soars, and is more 

 often seen flying through the trees than hovering above them. It 

 has a peculiar prolonged note, like other species of the genus. 

 The habits of the Ceylon race in captivity have been well described 

 by Legge. The nest, placed on a high tree, is a huge structure 

 of sticks, and is lined with green leaves, on which a single egg is 

 laid at some time from December to April. The egg is duU 

 greenish white, unspotted, or faintly streaked at the larger end 

 with reddish brown, and measures on an average 2*67 by 2-03. 



1212. Spizaetus limnaetus. The Changeahle Ilawlc-Eagle. 



Falco limnfeetus, Horsfield, Tr. Linn. Soc. xiii, p. 138 (1821) : Temm. 



PL Col. pi. 134. 

 Falco caligatus, Raffles, Tr. Li?m. Soc. xiii, p. i>78 (1822), 

 Falco niveus, Temm. PL Col. pi. 127 (1823). 

 Limnaetus horsfieldi, Vigors, Mem. Raffl. p. 649 (1830) ; Gurney, 



Ibis, 1877, p. 428 ; Hume, S. F. vi, p. 11, uote ; id. Cat no. 34 A ; 



Cripps, S. F. vii, p. 246. 

 Nisaetus pallidas, Hodf/s. J. A. 8. B. vi, p. 361 (1837), descr. nulla. 

 Spizaetus limnaetus, Blijth, Cat. p. 24 ; Horsf. ^ M. Cat. i, p. 32 ; 



Sharpe, Cat B. M. i, p. 272 ; Blyth, Sf Wal'd. Birds Burm. p. 63 ; 



Hume ^- Dav. S. F. vi, p. 11 ; Oates, B. B. ii, p. 192 ; id. m Hume's 



N. ^- E. 2nd ed. iii, p. 149. 

 Spizaetus caligatus, Horsf. 8f M. Cat i, p. 33 : Bhjth, Ibis, 1866, 



p. 241 ; Hume, Rough Notes, p. 198 ; Hume S,- Oates, 8. F. iii, 



p. 26 ; Armstrong, 8. F. iv, p. 297 ; Hume ^ Inglis, 8. F. v, p. 9. 

 Falco limnaetus, Bcrtistein, J.f. Orn. 1860, p. 419. 

 Limnaetus niveus, Jerdon, B. I. i, p. 70 ; Godiv.-Aust. J. A. 8. B. 



xxxix, pt. 2, p. 93. 

 Spizaetus andamanensis, Tijtler, P. A. 8. B. 1865, p. 112 ; Beavan, 



Ibis, 1867, p. 315 ; Hume, Rough Notes, p. 203 ; Ball, 8. F. i, 



p. 52 ; Hume, 8. F. it, p. 142 ; iv, p. 280. 

 Limnaetus caligatus, Jerdon, Ibis, 1871, p. 246 ; Gimiey, Ibis, 1877, 



p. 425 ; Hume, 8. F. vii, p. 198 ; id. Cat. no. 34 ; Bingham, 8. F. 



ix, p. 143 ; Hume, 8. F. xi, p. 10. 

 Limnaetus andamanensis, Walden, Ibis, 1874, p. 127 ; Hume, Cat. 



no. 34 bis. 

 Sadal, H., Bengal ; Morhaita, Garhwal. 



Coloration. Very similar to that of 8. cirrhatus, from which the 

 present bird differs in having no crest or only a rudimentary one ; 

 the plumage is generally paler, the lower parts in young birds 

 much more commonly pure white, and the head white with brown 

 shaft-stripes ; whilst even in the oldest birds some traces of white 

 bars remain on the brown feathers of the thighs, vent, and lower 

 tail-coverts ; and the gular and moustachial stripes and the dark 

 spots on the breast are better defined. Soft parts and measure- 

 ments as in S. cirrhatus, and the feathers of the tarsus, as in that 

 species, terminate at or above the division of the toes, and do not 

 cover the base of the middle toe as in S. nepalcnsis. 



Besides the ordinary form, there is a dark or melanistic variety, 

 the original Falco limnaetus (or Limnaetus horsfieldi). This is 



