NOTES ON THE SPOTTED EAGLE, AQUILA NCEVIA. 305 



species which have hitherto been confounded under the name of 

 ncevia, both being European. 



'The large bird (which Brooks is quite right in saying is the 

 ncevia of Brisson) is, I think, identical with the Indian A. 

 vittata of Hodgson. 



' The smaller bird is excessively close to, and possibly identi- 

 cal with, the Indian A. hastata. 1 " 



I shall once more show that the larger species is the true 

 ncevia of the old authors. 



Take first the description by Brisson, pp. 425 and 426 of his 

 Ornithology. 



He gives the following synonyms : — 



Aquila nosvia, Schvvenck. 



Aqui/a clanga, Klein. 



Morph.no congener, Aldrovandi. 



JMorphno congener, Aldrovandi, Willonghby. 



Stein adler, of the Germans. 



Rough-footed Eagle, of the English. 



The dimensions given are evidently inaccurate, and may be 

 set aside in favour of the statement : " Galli sat magni cras- 

 sitie est, et corpulentia." We are told that the general colour 

 of the body is obscure or dusky ferruginous. This I would 

 take to mean a dark brown with a reddish shade in it. Such a 

 description, as regards general body colour, does not apply to 

 the smaller species, which is of a much lighter brown than the 

 large bird, and this brown is not reddish. 



Again, Brisson says : u Alae subtus maculis multis ovalibus 

 albis, hinc inde sparsis insigniuntur.''' This is evidently derived 

 from Aldrovandi, who says : " Color totius prope ferrugineus 

 est, nisi quod ad extremas alas versus ventrem attinet, maculis 

 multis ovalibus et hinc inde sparsis insigniretur.'"' We here un- 

 derstand from Brisson that the lower part of the wings, or away 

 from the bend and shoulder, is spotted with oval white spots. 

 This is precisely the case with our larger Spotted Eagle. It is 

 generally well spotted on the lower part of the wing, and after 

 the first plumage is free from spots from the bend along the 

 ridge to where the wing joins the body. In the smaller species 

 (A. hastata) the peculiai'ity is, that the upper part of the wing 

 is well spotted, and increasingly so in the second plumage after 

 the spots are lost on the lower part of the wing. The ridge and 

 bend spots are then much larger than they are in the nestling, 

 and so numerous as to be often confluent. 



The w r ord " subtus," used by Brisson, I understand to mean 

 the low r er part of the outside of the wing, as opposed to the 

 upper portion near the bend and shoulder ; and this being the 

 case, the description is inapplicable to the smaller bird, in which 

 the general position of the spots is reversed. 



