684 MR. A. ANDERSON ON THE [Nov. 21, 



the object of its affections, in the middle of a large Antelope plain. 

 On another occasion I shot a magnificent female black Imperial, the 

 only fully mature bird of the season, when about to take a Duck from 

 the edge of a jheel. As it is now being contended that the Euro- 

 pean and Indian Imperial Eagles are two distinct birds, and as one 

 rarely gets a black one in this couutry, I make the following verbatim 

 extract from my notebook, which was jotted down on the spot : — • 



"Camp Mynpoory Canal, Feb. 11, 1871. — After examining the 

 Jugger's nest I went along the banks of the winding jheel near the 

 canal, as the ground looked promising for Peregrines and A. nce- 

 vioides. To my delight I saw a black, rufous-headed Imperial fly 

 across the jheel and settle on a small beyr tree ; as she perched the 

 bough regularly gave with her weight, and she had some difficulty 

 in keeping her position on the sapling, first spreading out one wing 

 and then the other to keep her balance true. 



" As she was intent on watching the Ducks, I crossed the most 

 shallow part of the jheel, and managed to crawl unobserved behind 

 a cane-field to within 30 yards of the tree, when down she came 

 without injuring a feather. 



"Measurements. Length 33 in., wing 25 in. ; tarsi to beginning 

 of toes 4g in., thence to root of mid claw 2% iu. ; greatest width of 

 foot 7 in., greatest breadth 5g in. ; hind claw along curve 2 in. ; 

 height of both mandibles at cere 1|, from base of cere to tip of 

 upper mandible along the curve 3 in. ; gape at point of both man- 

 dibles 3 in. 



"Sex. Female, on dissection. 



" Weight. 7 lbs. 6 oz. 



" Colour of soft parts. Feet dingy yellow, gape and cere pale 

 lemon-yellow ; whole of mandibles, excepting the tips, which are 

 black, pale blue ; iris brown ; claws black. 



"Plumage. Head and neck pale rufous. Whole of upper plumage 

 chocolate-brown ; beneath much darker, nearly black. No satis- 

 factory traces of white feathers on the scapulary region ; quite absent 

 on one side. The white feathers will perhaps appear when the bird 

 gets older." 



It is not my intention to enter into any discussion at present as 

 to whether the Indian Imperial is distinct from the European bird. 

 I believe that such, however, is now pretty generally admitted to be 

 the case, by some of our leading ornithologists. The plumage ques- 

 tion of the Indian bird is one of the greatest interest, and can only 

 be worked out by ornithologists at home, who enjoy the privilege 

 of examining specimens from all three continents. I am, however, 

 fully convinced that in the four-fold stage of the Indian bird we have 

 at least two distinct species. Can it be that the true A. imperialis, 

 Cuv., visits India, and that A. bifasciata will yet stand to be a good 

 species*? I hear from Dr. Tristram that the Indian bird is not 



* I shall endeavour to supply the Society with living examples of this bird 

 for their Gardens, where alone the transitional stages can be satisfactorially ob- 

 served, and the matter finally cleared up. It is impossible to do this by simply 

 shooting the birds, as they leave the plains of India before they moult. 



