82 BIRDS OF INDIA. 



I never observed it myself south of the Nerbudda. I saw it fre- 

 quently in the Saugor territories, and in Bengal. It extends to 

 Burmah and all the Malay countries. It lives chiefly on fish, 

 but will carry off a teal, or wounded duck ; and strikes at other 

 birds. I found its nest on several occasions ; once near the Nerbudda, 

 in a large tree, again near Saugor, on a tree on the top of a height 

 overlooking a large tank ; and in a tree, on the skirts of a village 

 near the Ganges, opposite Rajmahal, I found a whole colony of 

 nests of this Eagle. 



The nest is a very large structure of sticks. In one nest there 

 were unfledged young ; the others were empty. Horsfield relates 

 that he kept one alive for some time, and fed it on fish, and that it took 

 copious draughts of water : the cry resembled that of the Osprey. 



Another species of this genus is Pontaetus humilis, Temm. 

 {IcthycBtus nanus of Blyth,) from Malacca and the Islands; "a 

 miniature" of our bird. 



Gen. Hali^tus, Savigny. 



Syn. — Cuncuma (in part) Hodgs. — Blagrus, Blyth, (in part) — 

 Pontaetus, Kaup. 



Char. — Bill straight at the base, longish, compressed, curved 

 towards the tip, which is much hooked ; upper mandible with the 

 margin strongly sinuate ; nostrils somewhat oblong, transverse ; 

 wings long, 4th and 5th quills sub-equal and longest ; tail moderate 

 or rather short ; tarsus moderate, strong, plumed for nearly half 

 its length, the lower half with large transverse scuta in front, and 

 a short and more irregular series behind {Cuncuma) ; or with a 

 few and irregular ones in front above, and the whole of the rest 

 reticulated with small scales, hexagonal, or irregular {Halicetus) ; 

 toes large, covered with scuta; outer toe scarcely mobile; claws 

 large, unequal, squared beneath, well-curved. 



The Sea Eagles generally want the foramina in the sternum, 

 which are present in the true Aquiloe. 



42. Haliaetus fulvi venter, Yieill. 



F. Macei, Temm., Pl. col. 223— H. Macei, Blyth, Cat. 124— 

 HoRSF., Cat.67 — H. albipes, Hodgson, — H. lanceolatus,HoDGS., 



