FURREEDPORE, EASTERN BENGAL. 249 



42 .*— Haliaetus leucoryplms, Pallas. 



Much more common than the last species. It breeds in the 

 district, and is a permanent resident. I put off securing 1 a spe- 

 cimen, and eventually left the district without getting- one. 

 I noticed three or four of their nests, but during the time they 

 were breeding (November and December), I was confined to 

 my bed, so lost their eggs. Tamarind, Bombax and Peepul 

 trees are generally chosen. A Hindoo, in whose compound grew 

 a large Tamarind tree on which there was a nest of one of these 

 birds, begged me not to shoot them, as they judged the hour 

 by them. They say the birds call every three hours by night or 

 day ; they often carry off wounded game, and on one occasion I 

 saw a wounded Casarca rutila taken away by one of them. Fish, 

 however, are their principal food. I once rescued a large fish 

 (13 lbs. in weight) from one of these birds. It had after great 

 difficulty brought the fish to the shore, and on my running up to 

 the spot flew away leaving the fish behind. 



This was not in Furreedpore, but on the Lukhia river running 

 into the Megna at Nary an Gruuj. The fish was a scaleless one, 

 what the natives call u Ayer" a kind of Cat fish I think. 



51.— Circus macrourus, S. G. Gmel. 



22nd January 1878, Female. — Length, 20*0 ; expanse, 470 ; 

 wing, 14*75; tail from vent, 10*0; tarsus, 2*9 ; bill from 

 gape, 1*47 ; bill at front, 0*83 ; closed wings fall short of end 

 of tail, 1*75. Irides brown. 



Common in the cold weather ; they keep very much to the 

 large plains, and are not easily stalked. They quarter a plain 

 with great care flying with a measured flight, dropping on to any 

 unlucky frog or large grasshopper that they see. When wound- 

 ed I have heard them utter a weak but shrill cry, very like what 

 C. melanoleucus does when taken up in the hand after being 

 wounded. These birds perch on the ridges and mounds that 

 are scattered about cultivated plains which they frequent. 



52.— Circus cineraceus, Mont. 



6th March 1878, Male.— Length, 1775 ; expanse, 43-0 ; 

 wing, 14-75 ; tail, lO'O ; tarsus, 2-25 ; bill from gape, T08 ; bill 

 at front, including cere, 0*83 ; closed wings equal end of tail ; 

 weight, 8*75 oz. Legs dark yellow; irides pale yellow; cere pale 

 yellow ; bill base greenish. 



A cold weather visitant, arriving after the other Harriers 

 that are found in the district, and keeping to open plains and 



