Birds of the Philippine Islands. 217 



16 and 20 lbs., and that, in his then enfeebled state of 

 health, it was as much as he could do to hold the bird out 

 at arm's length. 



The Plate by Mr. Keulemans, though an excellent repre- 

 sentation o£ the bird, is necessarily much reduced, being 

 only one-sixth of the natural size, so that the peculiar cha- 

 racters of the bill and feet are not clearly enough shown. 

 These parts have, however, been very carefully drawn by 

 Mr. H. Gronvold, and the extraordinary shape and size of 

 the bill are accurately represented by the front and side 

 views of the head ^q of the natural size (see figs. 1 and 2). 

 The outline of the culmen describes the perfect segment of 

 a circle, the centre of which is the base of the cere where it 

 joins the cutting-edge of the upper mandible. This may be 

 seen by placing a pair of compasses on the figure repre- 

 senting the side view of the head. The depth of the bill is 

 greater than that of any known bird of prey, except Pallas's 

 Sea-Eagle {Halia'etus pelagicus) , in which it is sometimes 

 a trifle greater, while such extreme narrowness, compared 

 with the depth, is quite unique in birds of this order. It is 

 only among some Parrots, such as the Black Cockatoo 

 (Microglossus aterrimus) , that we find a bill approaching this 

 type, but in none of these is it laterally compressed to the 

 same extent. The high vaulted nasal opening, set almost 

 vertically, is another peculiar character. The naked tarsi 

 and feet approach those of the Harpy Eagle {Thrasaetes 

 harpyia) in size and strength, and the scaling of the tarsi is 

 remarkably similar, as is well shown in figs. 3 & -1. Strange 

 as it may seem, we have little doubt that the Harpy is the 

 nearest known ally of the present species. 



It is to be regretted that the bones of the body were not 

 preserved, as it would have been very interesting and im- 

 portant to compare these with the skeleton of the Harpy 

 Eagle or other allied species. An attempt was made by 

 means of the X-rays to photograph the skull still left in the 

 skin ; but this is unfortunately stuffed with hemp, which 

 proves to be almost impervious. The bones of the bill and 

 the shape of the skull and mandible arc, however, clearly 



