248 MANUAL OF PHILIPPINE BIRDS. 



205. POLIOAETUS ICHTHY>ETUS (Horsfield). 

 GRAY-HEADED FISH EAGLE. 



Falco ichthycetus HOBSFIELD, Trans. Linn. Soc. (1821), 13, pt. 1, 13G. 

 Polioaetus ichthyaetus SHARPE, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1874), 1, 452. 

 Polioaetus ichthyaetus SHABPE, Hand-List (1899), 1, 279; GATES, Cat. 



Birds' Eggs (1902), 2, 217; MCGREGOR and WORCESTER, Hand- 1, M 



(1906), 45. 



Basilan (Bourns & Worcester); Bongao (Everett) ; Calamianes (Bourns d 

 Worcester); Luzon ( Whitehead ) ; Mindanao (Steere Exp., Celestino) ; Mindoro 

 (Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Negros (Keay) ; Samar (Whitehead). Malay 

 and Indian Peninsulas, Burmese provinces, Greater Sunda Islands, Celebes, Ceylon. 



"Adult male. Above brown, paler on the interscapulary region and 

 darker on the wings, primaries blackish; under surface of wing leaden 

 brown, with a whitish spot at base of primaries ; tail white, with a broad 

 terminal bar of brown; entire head and neck all round clear ashy gray; 

 breast brown, a little lighter than the back; belly, vent, thighs, lower 

 flanks, and under tail-coverts pure white; under wing-coverts uniform 

 ashy brown. Cere and bill blackish; feet dirty yellowish white; iris 

 brown. Length, 660; culmen, 58; wing, 457; tail, '254; tarsus, 95. 



"Adult female. Similar to the male but larger. Length, 737 ; wing, 

 518; tarsus, 99. 



"Young. Above brown, glossed with chocolate, most of the feathers 

 of the upper surface with paler brown margins ; feathers of the head and 

 hind neck mesially streaked with fulvous; sides of face a little paler 

 than the head, but streaked in the same manner; under surface of body 

 pale brown, inclining to rufous, and longitudinally streaked with whitish 

 down the center ; thighs white, much mottled with rufous-brown ; lower 

 abdomen, vent, and under tail-coverts pure white; under wing-coverts 

 pale brown, plainly streaked with white, the greater series almost entirely 

 white, with a few brown markings; quills brown, white at base of inner 

 web, the white extending further on secondaries; which have ashy brown 

 cross-bars; tail fulvous brown, mottled all over with dark brown, except 

 at the tip, which is uniform dark brown, forming a very distinct band. 



"The bird above described, though full grown, is evidently immature 

 as regards its plumage. The, second stage is very similar to the adult, 

 but is by no means so gray on the head and throat." (Sharpe.) 



"Less common than Haliceetus leucogaster but frequents the same 

 localities. Quite abundant at Lake Naujan in Mindoro." (Bourns and 

 Worcester MS.) 



A few individuals were seen near the Baco River in Mindoro and 

 Celestino took a pair of young birds in northern Mindanao. 



