70 MR. A. ANDERSON ON THE [Jail. 16, 



trust no time will now be lost in having Aquila hastata figured, so 

 as to enable him to speak for himself ! 



I have been extremely fortunate in procuring a good series of this 

 desideratissimum of all Indian Eagles, as my collection already con- 

 tains five specimens — representing both sexes, as also several phases 

 of plumage. 



No one that has ever seen this handsome little Eagle in the flesh 

 could ever dispute its distinctness from both Aquila ncevia and A. 

 fulvescens. Structurally it has its affinities with the former, as the 

 nostril is round, though smaller and more circular, and it has the 

 same soft, silky plumage. The fully adult bird might be mistaken 

 for apale, spotless A. ncevia ; but the feeble beak, slender tarsi, length 

 of wings, which generally exceed the tail, to say nothing of the com- 

 paratively small size of the whole bird (if the sex has been deter- 

 mined), are more than sufficient to separate it at a glance. The 

 immature bird can never be mistaken for A. ncevia, as the minute 

 white or fulvous dots on the bend of the wing, which are confined 

 to the wing-coverts, chiefly near the carpal joint, and the pale fawn 

 colour of the under wing-coverts, together with the above charac- 

 teristics, distinguish it at once. Still less can I understand how it 

 could be confounded with A. fulvescens ; for, leaving alone the question 

 of plumage, it is structurally distinct. Had Mr. Hume examined 

 the nostril of the disputed bird in Col. Tytler's museum, he would 

 have noticed that, although it was "vastly like A. fulvescens," the 

 nostril alone was sufficient to separate it from that bird. 



In its habits Aquila hastata is equally distinct from either of the 

 above species. It affects open, alluvial country, is never found 

 (according to my present experience), like the "Wokab, in dry, arid 

 plains, nor in the vicinity of stagnant, marshy pools, like the Spotted 

 Eagle. All my specimens have been procured (by me) in low, open 

 country in the vicinity of rivers, which was more or less submerged 

 during the rainy season, and was only then being ploughed for the first 

 time since the cold weather had set in. I never once saw a single 

 A. ncevia in the same country as where I met with A. hastata, 

 although the Wokab was abundant. 



My best collecting-ground for the Long-legged Eagle (decidedly 

 a misnomer, as the measurements will prove) was between the 

 Ganges and Ramgunga, in the Futtehgurh district. The country 

 between these two rivers is low, and is subject to inundation more or 

 less every year. This season, owing to the unusually heavy rains, 

 the two rivers were one continuous sheet of water for two months, 

 submerging a strip of country from six to eight miles in breadth. 

 It was here that I got my first specimen, seated on a telegraph- 

 post within shot of the road, on the 28th of September, before the 

 waters had fairly subsided. 



Since procuring the above specimens, I have explored the most 

 likely ground in the Etawah and Mynpoory districts ; and although 

 I have met with Aquila fulvescens everywhere, and Aquila ncevia in 

 all suitable ground, neither Mr. Brooks nor I have as yet succeeded 

 in adding Aquila hastata to the avifauna of either of these districts. 



