528 CIRC AETUS SPIZAETUS 



its white under parts. It feeds on snakes, lizards, crabs, frogs, 

 large insects, small mammals and weakly birds, and to some 

 extent on fish. Its note is a plaintive, rather wild cry. It is a 

 tree-breeder, but its nest has been found on the ground. The 

 nest is constructed of sticks and twigs lined with coarse grass, 

 and it lays, in April or May, a single egg which is roundish 

 in shape, white with a faint greenish tinge, the shell rather 

 rough and granulated, and measures about 2 P 65 by 2*19. 



SPIZAETUS, Vieill., 1816. 



744. NEPALESE HAWK EAGLE. 



SPIZAETUS NEPALENSIS. 



Spizaetus nepalensis (Hodgson), J.A.S.B. v. p. 229, pi. 7 (1836) ; Sharpe,. 

 Cat. B. Br. Mus. i. p. 267 ; Blanf. F. Brit. Ind. Birds, iii. p. 352 ; 

 S. orientalis, Temm. and Schlegel, Faun. Jap. Aves, pi. 3 (1850). 



Kanda-panthiong, Lepcha. ; Kuma-taka, Jap. 



<J ad. (India). Crown and sides of head blackish ; crest 3 to 4 inches 

 long narrowly tipped with white ; upper parts dark brown ; quills with 

 somewhat indistinct bars ; rump and upper tail-coverts barred brown and 

 white ; tail greyish brown with blackish bands ; throat white with a 

 central blackish stripe ; breast buffy white broadly striped with blackish 

 brown ; rest of under parts brown barred with white ; bill black ; cere hoary 

 black ; feet dull yellowish white ; iris yellow ; legs feathered to the 

 base of the middle toe. Culmen T9, wing 17*0, tail 12'5, tarsus 4'2 inch. 

 Female similar but rather larger. The young k bird has the crown and 

 sides of head warm isabelline, spotted and striped with blackish brown - 

 rest of the upper parts earthy brown, some of the feathers with pale 

 margins ; tail earth-brown, whitish at the extreme base and with broad 

 dark bars ; entire under parts warm rufous buff with a few blackish 

 brown short stripes on the breast. 



Hal). The Himalayas from Kashmir to Bhutan, visiting the 

 plains of Northern India in the cold season ; China ; Mongolia ; 

 Japan. 



This is a forest-haunting species, and preys on small mammals, 

 pheasants, and other game birds. It breeds in the Himalayas, 

 and in Japan, placing its nest, which is a bulky structure of 

 sticks, on a tree, and from January to May the eggs, 2 in 

 number, are deposited. These are greenish white, sparingly 

 marked with pale purple and reddish brown and measure about 

 2-7 by 2-2. 



