OWLS AND DIURNAL BIRDS OF PREY. 347 
Distribution.—Fairly common nearly all over the low- 
country, and in the hills up to abouit 4,000 feet. It is replaced 
in the higher ranges by the next species. In India it is 
practically confined to the peninsula south of the plain of the 
Ganges. 
It is possible that the smaller darker birds are a local resident 
race, and the larger paler birds migrants from India. 
Habits, &c.—A woodland species, usually met with on the 
edge of heavy jungle, in park country, or in chenas and scrub 
jungle through which larger trees are scattered. It rarely 
soars for any prolonged period, but is usually seen perched on 
the top of a high tree. It feeds mainly on lizards, but also 
kills small mammals and birds, and on occasions is very 
destructive to poultry. It breeds early in the year on tall 
trees, constructing a large nest of twigs lined with green 
leaves. The single egg is of dull greenish-white, either 
unspotted or faintly streaked at the larger end with reddish- 
brown. Measurement about 2°67 by 2°03. 
SPIZAETUS KELAARTI (Blanford, Vol. III., p. 354; 
Legge, p. 51). 
Legge’s Hawk Eagle. 
Description.—Adult : Feathers of the head and hind-neck 
black with pale edges, which are broadest on the hind-neck ; 
the long crest black, tipped with white ; upper parts blackish- 
brown ; the scapular and upper tail coverts tipped with white ; 
wing coverts pale brown, darker at the ends; wing quills 
brown above, pale gray below, with dark crossbars ; tail 
feathers smoky-brown above and gray below with dark 
crossbars and narrow white tips. Chin, throat, and fore-neck 
creamy-white, with a broad darkstripe down the centre and a 
less clearly-defined stripe down each side ; rest of lower parts, 
including the legs and tail coverts, pale brown with broad 
white crossbars ; the bars on the thighs are narrower ; tarsus 
pale brown with white tips to the feathers. 
Young birds are paler. The head and neck feathers are 
tawny white with drop-shaped marks of rufous-brown ; there 
is a good deal of white on the wing coverts ; the sides of the 
