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They build on large trees, on the Peepul (Fiews Religiosa) 
by preference I think, but also on many other kinds, Sheeshum 
(Dalbergia Seesoo) Banyan (fF. Indicus) &e. The trees that 
they select, are almost invariably solitary ones, situated either 
on the banks of some river, or beside some considerable Jheel. 
In Upper India, I do not know a single large jheel, which 
retains water in it as late as February, where a pair of this 
species does not breed, and all down the Jumna, Ganges, 
Chambul and Sutledge, wherever I have been, I have invariably 
met with at least one pair every three or four miles, and in 
particular localities every ha/f mile ! 
The nest is a huge platform of sticks, some of which are 
often as thick as a man’s arm, with a superstructure of thinner 
The inner webs of the first 4 or 5 primaries, conspicuously notched, and 
generally greyish above the notches, and the tips of the secondaries 
mucronate. 
Sometimes a feather will be found in the tail with only half the inner web, 
of the white bar portion, white, the rest almost black. 
Somewhat younger birds have the crown and occiput rather darker, and 
the forehead, chin, throat, &c. whity brown, instead of pure white, indicating 
a less mature plumage. 
A very fine young female, shot near Suman, on the 27th February, 1867, 
was throughout, a dull brown of different shades. The head, neck and 
under parts, light fulvous brown, the chin and throat much paler, with a 
dark patch behind the eye, and over the ear coverts. The hackles of the hind 
head and neck paling towards the tip, and mostly inconspicuously pale, 
centred. The back of the neck, upper back, lesser scapulars, and median and 
lesser wing coverts, a rather darker brown, all the feathers, but specially the 
coverts, faintly and narrowly margined paler. The middle back very dark 
umber; rump and upper tail coverts, about the same brown as the upper 
back, the whole much mingled with dirty white, some of the feathers being 
almost entirely of this colour, some having only the outer webs so, and some 
only the bases, which are but partially seen, white. The inner lesser scapu- 
lars are similarly varied. The longer scapulars, tail feathers, and most of the 
quills, the winglet, and primary greater coverts, are a very deep (almost black) 
umber brown. A few of the quills, old ones not yet moulted, are a pale, 
somewhat rufous, umber. The centre tail feather has the broad white bar, 
but still imperfect on one web, and three of the other feathers have a few 
small inconspicuous whitish spots where the bar would be in the adult. 
Below, the axillaries and some of the side feathers are white, tinged with 
fulvous or pale brown, and there is a good deal of mottling with white, or 
fulvous, on some of the under wing coverts, and the inner webs of some of the 
primaries. There are traces of white on many of the feathers of the mid 
breast. The lower tail coverts are a pale brown, mottled more or less with 
fulvous white, The upper portion of the thigh coverts are a darker brown 
than the rest of the under surface of the body. 
A nestling female nearly able to fly, taken out of a nest at Rahun on the 
21st February, 1867, weighed 5lbs. 140z. was a nearly uniform dark brown 
above, and rather lighter below. The legs and feet were a clear pale lemon 
yellow. 
