24 MR. A, ANDERSON ON THE [Jan. 5, 
The “delicate yellow-brown”’ stage (referred to P.Z.S. 1872, 
p- 622) is, after all, the plumage of the juvenile or nestling bird; for 
mine, while in confinement, began to fade, and to assume a very light 
colour (in the nestling plumage); and under the influence of the 
sun the change of course would have been far greater. The amount 
of spots, and even the.striation below, in this early stage, is subject 
to considerable variation ; it is only the nestling birds which turn 
« yellow-brown,’’ as they are exposed to the influence of the sun and 
rain during the trying months of June to October before they are 
fully fledged ; and in these faded or “ yellow-brown” examples the 
spots and strize are sometimes nearly wanting. 
I may mention that I too pronounced the small Danzic bird, sent 
out to this country as A. nevia by Mr. Dresser, to be a fully adult 
example of A. hastata, without, at the time, knowing that Mr. Brooks 
had arrived at the same conclusion. 
*31. AQUILA PENNATA, Gmel. 
The capture of a beautiful adult male on the 22nd of January 
last enables me to throw some more light on the plumage of this 
little Eagle. 
The three birds in my collection appear to me to come in the 
following order :— 
No. 1 has the whole of the under surface of a uniform rich red- 
dish brown, all the feathers with the exception of the tibial plumes 
being dark-shafted. 
No. 2 has the throat and the upper breast buffy white, the 
feathers dark-shafted as in No. 1; lower breast and tibial plumes 
almost white, tinged with buff. 
No.3 has the throat, upper breast, sternum, and tibial plumes white, 
tinged with fulvous, the feathers generally broadly centred with rufous. 
The signs of adolescence in this Eagle evidently show more in the 
under than in the upper surface ; for no. 2 is certainly an older bird 
than no 1, and yet the two, laid side by side, back uppermost, are 
quite inseparable. No. 3, which I take to be fully adult, has the 
head and neck of arich reddish buff, the feathers on the occiput 
being broadly centred brown; the upper plumage generally is light 
brown, the wing-coverts and scapulars being broadly edged with 
buffy white. No. 2 has some brown feathers on the flanks, clearly 
indicating that the brown below is the early or first plumage. The 
following measurements will show the comparative dimensions of 
both sexes :— 9, length 21°5 inches, wing 16, tarsus 2°38; d, length 
18°5, wing 14, tarsus 2°5. 
38. Circairus GALLICUS, Gmel. 
I have lately sent an account of the breeding of this bird to Mr. 
Dresser. 
+ Cf. ‘Stray Feathers’ for 1873, p. 327. 
I have had access to Mr. Hodgson’s drawings, and find that while he has 
figured the adult bird under the name of “ tarsatus,” he does not appear to haye 
seen specimens in the s/riated or spotted stages. 
