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



every reason to conclude that, like its congener A. ncevia, it is also a 

 marsh-loving bird. I believe it to be, however, a more game-killing 

 Raptor ; and though the crop of one of my specimens contained only 

 a frog, Mr. Brooks once saw A. ncevioides strike a pond- Heron, 

 Ardea leucoptera. 



With regard to its plumage, it would appear to have several stages, 

 viz. pale buff, yellow, tawny red, and dark chocolate-brown, with a 

 pale fulvous head ; but perhaps these shades are only a matter of 

 complexion. Most of the birds got in this country have been in the 

 first two stages ; and only one fully adult specimen has as yet been 

 procured, and this one is now with Dr. Tristram. I trust Dr. Jerdon 

 will pardon me for pointing out that this Eagle is by no means so 

 common as is to be inferred from his " Supplementary Notes" *. 



The following is a complete record of every specimen that has as 

 yet been known to have been obtained in this country : — 



1, d. A pale buff bird, Etawah, Feb. 20th, 1867, given to Dr. 

 Tristram. 



2, $ . A pale buff bird, Etawah, March 1868, given to Mr. Hume. 



3, ? . A dark red bird, March 1869, given to Dr. Tristram. 



4, $ . A buff bird, Nov. 1869, with Mr. Brooks. 



5,$. A buff bird, Dec. 1869, given to Mr. Hume. This bird 

 has bars on the tail square across the feathers, not diagonal as iu A. 

 fulvescens. 



6, ? . A buff bird, Jan. 1870, with Mr. Brooks. 



7, 2 • A dark brown and partly buff bird (moulting), new feathers 

 dark red-brown on lower parts, shot in Pillibeet, in Jan. 1870, by 

 Mr. Yeatman, with Mr. Brooks. 



8, 2 • A buff bird, Jan. 29th, 1870, with Mr. Brooks. 



9, 6 • A yellow bird, shot by me, Feb. 8th, 1871. 

 10, 2 • A yellow bird, shot by me, March 12th, 1871. 



Aquila ncevioides has contributed not a little towards the general 

 confusion of the Eagle question. That the European Tawny Eagle 

 and the Indian Tawny one {A. fulvescens) have been considered one 

 and the same bird must have been apparent to any attentive reader 

 of Bree's workf. Mr. Blyth, while pointing out that the Wokab 

 was a "considerably smaller bird "J than its congener, failed to 

 show the structural difference between the two birds, which he most 

 certainly would have noticed had he handled both together. Dr. 

 Tristram holds (tn epist.) "that in some stages A. fulvescens and A. 

 ncevioides seem awfully close." "I am not sure," he adds, "that 

 A. fulvescens is any thing more than a small race." In the face of the 

 above it would appear almost presumptuous in me to point out that 

 the two birds are wholly distinct and separate ; and I trust that 

 ornithologists who may now have any doubts on the subject will 

 compare the nostrils and tails of the two birds. It will be found 

 that these two Eagles differ in the following points : — 



1. A. fulvescens has its nostrils elongated and vertical, while A. 

 ncevioides has them broad and elliptical, almost circular. 



* Ibis, April 1871 , p. 245. f Bree, vol. i. pp. 72, 73. 



\ Ibis, vol. ii. new series, p. 241. 



