232 MANUAL OF PHILIPPINE BIRDS. 



Genus HALI^EETUS Savigny, 1809. 



Bill stout, culrnen straight at base, then greatly curved, with a long 

 overhanging hook, edge sinuate; tail rounded, its feathers wide and 

 pointed; tarsus heavy, feathered for a short distance in front; a row of 

 large transverse plates in front, a row of large hexagonal scales behind, 

 sides covered with small hexagonal scales. 



190. HALI/EETUS LEUCOGASTER (Gmelin). 

 WHITE-BREASTED SEA EA6LE. 



Falco leucogaster GMELIN, Syst. Nat. (1788), 1, pt. 1, 257. 

 Haliaetus leucogaster SHABPE, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1874), 1, 307. 

 Haliaetus leucogaster SHABPE, Hand-List (1899), 1, 267; GATES, Cat. Birds' 

 Eggs (1902), 2, 279; McGBEQOB and WOBCESTER, Hand-List (1906), 43. 



Ma-na-ol', Ticao, Manila. 



Bantayan (McGregor) ; Batan (McGregor) ; Basilan (Bourns d Worcester, 

 McGregor)-, Bohol (McGregor)', Bongao (Everett); Calamianes (Bourns & Wor- 

 cester); Calayan ( McGregor ) ; Camiguin N. (McGregor) ; Cebu (McGregor); 

 East Bolod (Mearns) ; Fuga (Whitehead) ; Luzon (Bourn* d Worcester) ; Masbate 

 (Bourns & Worcester, McGregor) ; Mindanao (Steere Exp.) ; Mindoro (Bourns d 

 Worcester, McGregor, Porter) ; Palawan ( Whitehead, Platen, Bourns d Worcester, 

 White) ; Romblon (Bourns d Worcester) ; Samar (Steere Exp., Bourns d Worces- 

 ter! Whitehead) ; Semirara (McGregor d Worcester) ; Sibuyan (Bourns d Worces- 

 ter, McGregor) ; Siquijor (Bourns d Worcester) ; Sulu (Bourns d Worcester) ; 

 Tablas (Bourns d Worcester, Celestino) ; Tawi Tawi (Bourns d Worcester) ; Ticao 

 (McGregor); Verde (McGregor); Y'Ami (McGregor). Indian Peninsula; Indo- 

 Chinese Provinces; Malay Peninsula to Australia and Gceania. 



Adult. Entire head, neck, and lower parts white, many of the feathers 

 with blackish shafts; tail blackish, its terminal third white; primaries 

 blackish with white bases; axillars and wing-lining white; remainder of 

 wings and upper parts bluish slate-gray, with a slight mixture of brown. 

 Male from Ticao: Iris dark; bill at base and cere horn-blue; bill at tip 

 and nails black ; legs and toes white. Length, 685 ; wing, 550 ; tail, 230 ; 

 culmen from base, 52 ; tarsus, 91. The female is said to be slightly larger. 



Young. Head, chin, and throat buffy or pale yellowish white, more 

 or less streaked with light brown; general color brown, darker above, 

 many of the feathers with lighter brown or whitish shaft-lines which 

 widen at the tips; primaries black with whitish bases; end of tail brown, 

 basal two-thirds white mottled with brown. 



The white-breasted sea eagle is widely distributed but nowhere in the 

 Philippines is it abundant. In adult plumage it is easily identified by 

 its white under parts. Its nest consists of a mass of sticks and is usually 

 supported by the branches of some large tree. Islets on which there 

 are but a few trees are in particular favor with this species. The 

 eggs are usually spheroidal and white with a few faint markings of 

 reddish brown. 



