340 SPOLIA ZEYLANICA. 
Group IX.: Falcons.—Six medium or small species. Bill 
with one notch onthe upper mandible. No crest; wings long, 
first quill not shorter than fourth. Nostrils round. 
Group I.—Hawk Eagles. 
The Hawk Eagles differ from the true Eagles, which do not 
occur in the Island, by their slimmer build, longer tails, and 
more slender tarsi. They resemble them, however, and differ 
from all the remaining groups in having the tarsus clothed all 
round down to the toes with fine close-set feathers. Theyareall 
birds of large or fairly large size, armed with powerful bills and 
talons, and flying witha fine boldsweep. The note is generally 
a loud, clear call. Among the villagers of the Puttalam 
District the Crested Eagle—S. cirrhatus—is put down as the 
author of the Devil Bird’s ery, and a loud, resounding, eerie 
scream, which I have heard at night in the northern forest 
tract, seemed certainly more like the cry of an Eagle than of 
an Owl. The six species found in Ceylon are mostly rare. 
They are divided among four genera. The main generic and 
specific differences are shown in the following key :— 
Key to Ceylon Species. 
1.—Wings long; when folded the tip of the longest primary 
exceeds the tip of the longest secondary by more than 
the length of the tarsus. 
A.—Claws much curved ; hind claw longest. 
(a) No crest ; mid-toe without claw not much longer 
than bill.* Genus Hieraetus. . 
(1) Larger : wing well over 18. 
H. fasciatus (Bonelli’s Eagle). 
(2) Smaller : wing under 17. 
H. pennatus (Booted Eagle). 
(6) A wedge-shaped crest on the nape ; mid-toe without 
claw more than half an inch longer than the bill. 
Lophotriorchis kieneri (Rufcus-bellied Hawk Eagle). 


* I.c., the distance from the gape to the tip of the upper mandible. 
measured in a straight line, not round the curve. 
