359 



chin and throat more or less tinged or streaked with black or ashy ; 

 fore-neck and upper breast, as a rule, closely barred with pale 

 brown ; lower breast and abdomen, flanks, under wing-coverts, 

 and axillaries ornamented with ocelli that are white surrounded 

 with dark brown, these spots passing into dark-edged cross-bars, 

 more or less broken, on the vent, thigh-coverts, and lower tail- 

 coverts. The variation in the coloration of the lower parts and 

 in size is unusually great in this Eagle. 



In young birds the crown and nape-feathers are white, with 

 black and brown tips ; the upper plumage of various shades of 

 brown, the ends of the feathers generally darker, and the base 

 white, many feathers with white tips ; lower parts, including the 

 wing-lining, white with dark shafts or shaft-stripes on the breast ; 

 the whitish bars on the wings and tail are more numerous than in 

 adults, generally there are "2 well-marked pale bands on the tail 

 beyond the coverts. 



Fig. 90. Head of S. cheela, f. 



As the bird grows older bars and ocelli appear on the lower 

 parts. When nearly adult, there is still much white on the wing- 

 lining, and remains of the second pale tail-bar may often be traced 

 even in full-grown birds. In the intermediate stage the chin is 

 very black, there are still dark shaft-stripes to the barred breast- 

 feathers, and sometimes a few small white ocelli on the upper 

 breast. 



Bill plumbeous, bluish black at tip and on culmen ; cere, skin of 

 lores, and gape bright, or in some dingy lemon-yellow ; irides 

 intense yellow ; legs and feet pale dingy yellow. 



Distribution. Throughout the Oriental region in suitable places, 

 ascending the Himalayas to 4000 or 5000 feet. Very rare in the 

 north-west of India, but I have seen this bird even in the Sind 

 hills. There are several well-marked races so different in size and 

 coloration as to have been generally kept distinct ; these are : 



(1) Typical S. cheela. This is the largest form length about 

 29 inches ; tail 13 ; wing 20 ; tarsus 4 ; bill from gape 1/9 : male 

 rather smaller than female in general, but there is no constant 

 difference. The breast and fore-neck are closely and distinctly 

 barred, sometimes the throat also, the chin and throat are often 

 black, and in adults there is a single broad whitish band on the 

 tail. This form is found in Northern India from Sind and Kashmir 



