SPILOENIS. 361 



1218. Spilornis minimus. The Little Nicobar Serpent-Eagle. 



Spilorais minimus, Hume, S. F. i, p. 464 ; ii, p. 149 ; iv, p. 282 ; id. 

 Cat. no. 39 sept. ; Gurney, Ibis, 1878, p. 101. 



Coloration. Adult. Crown and nape black, the feathers white at 

 the base and for more than half their length ; upper parts dull 

 umber-brown, with little or no metallic gloss ; quills blackish at 

 the end, then a broad bar pale brown below, brown above, next a 

 blackish bar narrower than the pale one, then another pale band, 

 inner webs above this mostly white ; tail blackish brown, with two 

 paler brown bars ; ear-coverts and lower parts brown, but paler 

 than back ; upper breast without bars ; lower breast, abdomen, 

 and thigh-coverts with broad white spots, the borders of the spots 

 scarcely darker than the spaces between ; inner wing-coverts 

 chiefly white. 



Young very similar to that of S. clieela. 



Bill light blue, dark horny at tip ; cere, gape, orbital skin, and 

 irides bright yellow ; legs and feet also yellow (Hume). 



Length about 19; tail 8; wing 11-5; tarsus 3; bill from 

 gape 1*6. 



Distribution. The Nicobar Islands, whence several specimens 

 were obtained by Mr. Hume. 



1219. Spilornis elgini. The Andaman Serpent-Eagle. 



Haematornis elgini, Tytler, Blyth, J. A. S. B. xxxii, p. 87 (1863) ; id. 



Ibis, 1863, p. 118 ; Beavan, Ibis, 1867, p. 314. 

 Spilornis bacha, apud Hume, Rough Notes, p. 230, pt. ; Ball, J.A.S. B. 



xli, pt. 2, p. 275 ; id. S. F. i, p. 52 ; nee Daudin. 

 Spilornis elgini, Walden, Ibis, 1873, p. 299 ; Hume, S. F. ii, p. 144 ; 



Sharpe, Cat. B. M. i, p. 291 ; Gurney, Ibis, 1878, p. 101 ; Hume, 



Cat. no. 39 sex. 



Coloration. Lores and space round eye naked, more so than in 

 jS. cheela, only bearing a few scattered whitish hairs ; crown and 

 nape black, the feathers more or less fringed with brown and 

 their basal two-thirds white ; plumage above and below dark 

 chocolate-brown, with a slight ruddy gloss above ; a few minute 

 white specks of irregular form on the upper wing-coverts and 

 upper tail-coverts, and frequently on the back and scapulars, and 

 larger round white spots on the breast (in many cases extending 

 to the upper breast), abdomen, under tail- and wing-coverts, 

 flanks and axillaries ; no barring on the breast ; moustachial band 

 and ear-coverts blackish ; quills blackish brown, with from 3 to 5 

 narrow broken cross-bars, pale brown above, whitish below, some- 

 times almost obsolete ; tail black, with two pale cross-bars, whity 

 brown above, whitish below, the posterior the broader, but less 

 than an inch wide. 



Young birds appear only to differ in being rather paler, with 

 the feathers of the head, above and below, mostly white ; the 

 crown and nape with brown subterminal bands, and the chin with 



