POLIOAETUS. 



unfrequently robs the Osprey of its prey. It has a loud clanging 

 cry, chiefly uttered in the breeding-season from October to February. 

 It lays two whitish eggs, deep green when held before a light, 

 and measuring about 2-81 by 2-07, in the usual large nest of sticks, 

 placed on a tree and lined with green leaves, the same nest being 

 used for many years in succession. 



1225. Haliaetus albicilla. The White-tailed Sea-Eagle. 



Vultur albicilla (errore albiulla), Linn. St/st. Nat. p. 123 (1766). 



Haliaetus albicilla, Leach, Syst. Cat. Mamm. $c. B. M. (1816) p. 9 ; 

 Hume, Ibis, 1870, p. 438 ; 1871, p. 404 : 8. F. i, p. 159 ; vii, p. 341 ; 

 id. Cat. no. 42 bis ; Jerdon, Ibis, 1871, p. 336; Blyth, Ibis, 1872, 

 p. 87 ; A. Anderson, P. Z. S. 1872, p. 78; Sharpe, Cat. B. M. i, 

 p. 302 ; Murray, Vert. Zool. Sind, p. 83 ; Barnes, Birds Bom. p. 40. 



Haliaetus pelagicus, Hume, Rough Notes, p. 253 ; nee Pallas. 



Haliaetus brooksi, Hume, Bough Notes, p. 255 (1870) ; id. Ibis, 1870,. 

 p. 438. 



Coloration. Upper plumage brown ; the head, neck, and smaller 

 coverts paler, sometimes almost whity brown, with narrow dark 

 shaft-stripes ; quills blackish ; lower parts paler than upper, palest 

 on the chin, throat, and fore-neck, many feathers with pale tips ; 

 tail white except at the extreme base. 



The young are brown, sometimes very dark, sometimes pale ; the 

 basal portion of all feathers fulvous or white, and usually exposed, 

 on the lower parts especially ; tail-feathers white, more or less 

 mottled and edged with brown. 



Cere and bill yellow in adults ; cere yellowish brown, bill black in 

 young birds ; iris yellow (brown in the young) ; feet yellow. 

 There is a slight ruff of lanceolate feathers, far less distinct than 

 in H. leucoryplms, and the end of the tail is wedge-shaped, the 

 middle feathers being considerably longer than the outer. 



Length of a female 34 inches ; tail 13 ; wing 26 ; tarsus 4*5 ; bill 

 from gape 3. Males are rather less, wing 24-5. 



Distribution. All Europe and Northern Asia, also Greenland. 

 In India this bird appears to be a cold-weather visitant to the 

 Punjab, North-west Provinces, and Sind. 



Habits, <Sfc. Very similar to those of other fishing Eagles. In India 

 this species has been observed to haunt large marshes. It feeds 

 mainly on fish. 



Genus POLIOAETUS, Kaup, 1847. 



Bill shorter than in Haliaetus, culmen arched from the cere, fes- 

 toon prominent, nostrils oval ; wings rounded, 4th and 5th quills 

 longest ; tail moderate, slightly rounded. Tarsus feathered in front 

 for one third of its length or rather more, the rest covered in 

 front and behind with large rectangular scutse, the sides reticu- 

 lated ; the toes with broad scales above and pointed scales beneath : 

 the outer toe partially reversible, but not completely, as in the 

 Osprey ; claws strong, much curved, rounded beneath. 



VOL. III. 2 B 



