511 



Sfrbs ttffittiity k gnbia, not ibcsmbcfc in %txh\x or Jitiato 

 in " ^trag l^tljet's." 



35 6is.— Limnaetus ceylonensis, Gm. 



I by no means mean to assert that either this or the next 

 species, L. kelaarti, are really deserving of specific separation. 

 1 have not myself had an opportunity of examining a suffi- 

 cient number of specimens ; but they are clearly distinguish- 

 able races, and as Mr. Gurney considers this form at any rata 

 distinct, we cannot be far wrong in accepting his verdict 

 for the present. 



He says {Ibis, 1877, 430) :— 



" Limnaetus ceylonensis {Falco ceylonensis of Gmelin). — The 

 ordinary Hawk-Eagle of Ceylon, which Mr. Sharpe identifies 

 with L. cirrhatus, is a decidedly smaller bird. I have measured 

 ten Ceylonese specimens, of which the largest had the wing 

 15*2 inches in length from the carpal joint, and the tarsus 36, 

 and the smallest had the wing 14 inches and the tarsus 3*4. 



" Judging from the specimens which I have seen, I should 

 say that the ordinary plumage of L. ceylonensis varies but 

 little, and much resembles the first dress of L. cirrhatus as 

 described by Mr. Hume in Stray Feathers, Vol. IV., p. 356." 



Mr. Legge gives full and detailed descriptions of all the 

 stages of this bird's plumage in his admirable work on the 

 *' Birds of Ceylon" elsewhere referred to, and points out that 

 the old bird has a dark fuliginous phase, which certainly does 

 not occur in cirrhatus. 



He suggests, as Mr. Gurney did previously, that my L. sphynx 

 (S. F., I, 321) may be this same species, though its plumage 

 does not altogether agree with that of any known phase of ceylo- 

 nensis ; and though its enormously long tarsus and crest, not 

 tipped with white, do oppose difficulties to the identification. 

 Looking to the localities, I should think my bird must be 

 ceylonensis, despite differences ; but time and a further series 

 of specimens, can, alone, decide the question. 



36 5/5.— Limnaetus kelaarti, Legge. 



" Having had occasion to examine a large series of Spizaetus 

 nipalensis for the purpose of comparison with examples of the 



65 



