28 A FTKST LIST OF THE 



39.— Spilornis cheela, Lath. 



Birds from Thayetmyo are the true cheela, a little smaller no 

 doubt than Himalayan specimens, but with wings varying- from 

 18 to 19 inches in females and of the true cheela type. Further 

 south this species appears to be entirely replaced by the next. 

 Mr. Oates gives the following particulars of a female of the 

 present species measured in the flesh : — 



" Length, 28'2; expanse, 61 ; tail, from vent, 12"8; wing, 18 ; 

 bill, from gape, 2-03; tarsus, 4*05; legs, pale dirty yellow; claws, 

 black; iris, bright yellow; eyelids, well clothed; naked skin in 

 front of eye and shelf, pale greenish yellow ; cere, a shade 

 greener; bill, plumbeous, dusky at tip; inside of mouth, bluish. 



" The commonest of the large Raptors ; extends to my know- 

 ledge from the Bay of Bengal to Tonghoo. One was shot in 

 Thayetmyo in trying to carry off a chicken." 



Captain Feilden says : "I shot four birds answering to 

 Dr. Jerdon's Crested Serpent Eagle ; but as I never shot that bird, 

 I cannot state that they are identical with the Indian bird." 



39 ter. — Spilornis Rutherfordi, Swinh. 



It is only, I believe, as a mere chance straggler that this 

 species or race occurs within our limits ; its natural home is 

 further east and south. 



No separate description seems necessary. I have compared 

 a large series from China, Siam, and Tenasserim with a still 

 larger series of cheela from Northern and Continental India, and 

 I have been unable to detect any constant difference in the 

 plumage, though that of the Indian bird is commonly somewhat 

 more richly colored. 



In Rutherfordi the sexes differ little in size, and the following 

 dimensions recorded in the flesh of four adults, two of each sex, will 

 show how greatly in this respect these birds differ from cheela : — 



Length, 24-0 to 24-75; expanse, 50-5 to 56-37; tail, from 

 vent, 10/5 to 11-5 ; wing, 16-3 to 17 # 25 ; tarsus, 3*5; bill, from 

 gape, 1-75 to 2-0 ; weight, 21bs. to 2-51bs. The legs and feet 

 are yellowish white ; the bill, dark plumbeous ; the facial skin, 

 cere and irides, bright yellow. 



I have only seen a single specimen of this species obtained 

 within our limits. This was shot on the right bank of the 

 Sittang, about eight miles below Tonghoo, in July. 



41.— Polioaetus ichthyaetus, Horsf. 



A single specimen of this species is sent by Mr. Oates from 

 Thayetmyo with the following remarks and particulars : — 



" I shot this specimen in my compound in an apparently ex- 

 hausted state. It is obviously quite a young bird, and so young 



