POUOAETUS. 81 



Hal). Sind, Beloochistan, and Persia ; also the Punjab, N.-W. Provinces, 

 JBengal, British Burmah, Ncpaul, Kutch, Kattiawar, Concan and Deccan, and 

 nearly throughout the Indian Peninsula in suitable localities. Occurs also 

 all over Europe and Africa, N. and S. America, China and Japan. Very 

 widely distributed. Most abundant along the coasts, large rivers and lakes. 

 In Sind it is a winter visitant. 



Mr. Sharpe (Cat. Ace. p. 450) remarks that " Ospreys seem to get whiter on 

 the head with age ; the mottling on the breast is strongly marked in all old 

 birds, and that the tail becomes more uniform brown with age, so that a 

 strongly barred tail is a sure sign of immaturity." 



It is believed the Osprey breeds in the Valley of Kumaon, where Mr. Hume 

 saw the nest of one, and Mr. Thompson believes it breeds on the Ganges 

 above Hurdwar. Nothing certain is however known. In the British Isles 

 it is said to make a large nest either on trees, on rocks, or about old ruins 

 near large pieces of water, and to lay 2 or 3 eggs, oval in form, and typically 

 have a white ground, here and there clouded with pale purple and very richly 

 blotched and streaked, most densely towards the large end with deep red, 

 becoming in its intensity almost black. Size 2-52 X 1-89 to 1*93. 



Gen. PolioaetllS. Kaup, 



Tarsus feathered in front for one-third its length, scutellate in front. 

 Distance between tips of primaries and secondaries less than length of tarsus. 



79. PolioaetUS ichthyaetus, Horsf. Tr. Linn. Socy xiii. p. 136; 

 Sharpe, Cat. Ace., p. 453; Kaup. Contr. Orn. 1850, p. 73 ; Jerd. B.Ind. i. 

 p. 8 1 ; Hume, Rough Notes, ii. p. I. Haliaetus plumbeus, Hodgs. J . A. S. B., 

 vi. p. 367. The EASTERN WHITE-TAILED EAGLE. 



Adult Male. Head and neck all round ashy grey ; breast a little lighter brown 

 than the back; wings darker; primaries blackish. Under surf ace of wing leaden 

 brown with a whitish spot at the base of the primaries ; tail white with a termi- 

 nal bar of brown. Abdomen, vent, thighs, lower flanks and under tail coverts 

 white, under wing coverts ashy brown. Cere and bill blackish ; feet dirty 

 yellowish white ; iris brown. 



Length. 26 inches; wing 18; tail 10; tarsus 375 culmen 2*3- 



Adult female. Similar, but larger. Length. 29 inches, with a wing of 

 20*4, and tarsus 3-9. 



The young bird is lighter brown above. All the feathers edged and tipped 

 with whitish ; feathers beneath pale reddish brown, with mesial pale streaks ; 

 thighs white, mottled with reddish brown ; quills as in the male with a larger 

 white basal patch below; tail fulvous brown, mottled with dark brown, tip 

 uniform dark brown, forming a distinct band. 

 11 



