36 AQUILIN&. 
Genus, Circaétus, Vieillot. 
Bill rather short, gently curving from the base, much hooked 
at the tip; culmen rounded, compressed at the sides; commissure 
nearly straight; nostrils oval, oblique; wings long, the third 
quill longest, or second and third sub-equal, fourth nearly as 
long, the first three quills emarginate ; tail long, nearly even; tarsi 
long, plumed below the heel, clad with small, hexagonal scales; 
feet small; toes short, scutellate at the base of the claws; the 
lateral toes about equal; claws tolerably curved, rather short, of 
nearly equal length. 
Circaétus gallicus, Gm. 
38.—Jerdon’s Birds of India, Vol. I, p. 76 ; Butler, Guzerat ; Stray 
Feathers, Vol. III, p. 446; Deccan, &c., Stray Feathers, Vol. 
IX, p. 373; Murray’s Vertebrate Zoology of Sind, p. 79; 
Swinhoe and Barnes, Central India; Ibis, 1885, p. 57; Hume’s 
Scrap Book, p. 217. 
THE COMMON SERPENT HAGLE. 
Jean le Blane. 
Sampmar, Hin. 
¢. length, 25°75; expanse, 70; tail, 11°75; wing, 208; 
‘tarsus, 3°7. 
@. Length, 29; expanse, 76; tail, 13:25; wing, 22. 
Bill pale greyish-blue at the base, blackish horny at the tips; 
cere small, whitish, with a tinge of bluish-grey in places; irides 
deep yellow ; legs dirty pale yellow ; claws black. 
Young: head and nape whitish; the feathers brown streaked ; 
back and wings pale earthy-brown, lightest on the wing-coverts; 
quills dusky-black ; tail pale ashy-brown, with darker bands, and 
the inner webs almost white ; beneath chin to breast fulvous, with 
narrow longitudinal brown streaks; from the breast to the vent 
white, with a pale brown streak on the centre of each feather. 
The adult is darker brown above and on the head; and the 
lower parts white ; the feathers all marked with brown stripes, or 
spots, tending to form a denser zone on the throat and breast. 
The head is large, full and puffy; the feathers of the head 
and neck rounded, not lanceolate ; the wings reach to the end of 
the tail; the inner edge of the centre claw is conspicuously 
dilated into a cutting edge. 
This Eagle is known by several trivial names, one of the best 
known being Jean-le-Blanc ; it was called the Common Serpent 
Eagle, by Jerdon, on account of its penchant for snakes, to which 
habit also it owes its Hindustani appellation; it is also called 
the Short-toed Eagle. ; 
It is found throughout the region, frequenting open plains, 
but eschewing the more densely-wooded districts. It breeds 
during the first three months of the year; the nest is generally 
built on trees, and is a large, loose, straggling structure, composed 
