344 SPOLIA ZEYLANIGA, 
Young birds are dark brown above, some of the feathers 
with paler edges ; tail barred ; lower parts pure white ; ear 
coverts rufous-brown streaked with black. 
Bill black; cere yellowish-white ; iris dark brown; feet 
pale yellow. 
Male : length 21; wing 15; tail 8°25; tarsus 2°8; middle 
toe without claw 2°15; bill from gape 1°5. 
Females larger: length about 24; wing 16. Both male 
and female appear to vary in size. 
Distribution.—A rare bird, but apparently resident in the 
hills, and occasionally seen in the low-country, as I recently 
obtained a specimen in forest 16 miles south-east of Puttalam. 
It is found in the Eastern Himalayas and the hill ranges 
of Eastern Bengal and Southern India. It also occurs in 
Malaya, but is nowhere common. 
Habits, &c.—A fine bold bird with a graceful buoyant 
flight. It may be met with perched on tall trees in the forest, 
or seen sailing over wooded hillsides, patana gorges, &c. It 
feeds on small mammals and birds. It breeds regularly on the 
hills of Travancore in Southern India. The nest, which is used 
year after year, is a huge structure of sticks. The work of 
repairing it is begun in October or November. As early as 
December or as late as March a single egg is laid on a lining 
of green leaves. The colour is white, roughly speckled and 
dotted with pale reddish or yellowish-brown, sometimes with 
some deeper markings of blood red, and faint underlying 
blotches of gray. The texture is fairly smooth, but coarse- 
grained, and the inner lining of the shell is a fairly bright green. 
Average size about 2°29 by 1°83. 
IcTINAETUS MALAYENSIS (Blanford, Vol. III., p. 347). 
NEOPUS MALAYENSIS (Legge, p. 47). 
The Black Eagle. 
Description.—Adult : Brown-black almost all over ; lores 
whitish ; lower parts with a browner tinge ; the tail feathers 
and the inner webs of the wing quills near the base are barred 
with mottled-gray, which on the underside of the feathers 
appears whitish. 
Young birds are browner, the. head is almost tawny, 
especially on the sides. Some specimens have tawny spots 
