3 
and feet dull lead-colour ; middle toe very long.” In notes taken at 
the time, I find an entry that I saw an Egyptian Vulture on her nest 
as late as the 4th of May. 
Family Fatconip2. 
Subfamily AquiLinz. 
Genus AquiLa. 
The eggs of the Eagle forwarded with these notes are those, I be- 
lieve, of Aquila fusca, Gray (identical I imagine with Aquila nevia, 
Gould), because that bird is by far the most common of the family 
in that part of Western India situated above the Ghauts. In the 
hilly portions of the country this bird may be seen perched on some 
elevated point of rock, sitting motionless, basking in the rays of the 
early sun; in the plains a solitary tree is almost sure to have one of 
them on its topmost branch. After the sun has been up some two 
or three hours, it commences its search for food, consisting chiefly, I 
believe, of hares. A Mharatta of high family, who had a very con- 
siderable knowledge of the habits of the birds of the country, told me 
that when an eagle discovers a hare in her form, which is generally 
in the grass at the foot of a bush, she will strike the bush with her 
wings to drive her victim out, before striking at it. That a large 
portion of this eagle’s food consists of hares, I can attest, having 
found their skulls and bones in a nest. The nest, of a large size and 
composed of sticks, is built on tall trees; it contains two egos, 2,7, 
inches in length and 2, inches in breadth, of a white ground, 
sprinkled over with reddish spots. They commence breeding as 
early as the latter end of November, and their eggs may be found up 
to the beginning of April. 
Subfamily Cyminpinz. 
Genus Exanvs. 
ELANUS MELANOPTERUS. 
I was never able to procure the nest and eggs of this handsome 
little Kite, but A. F. Davidson, Esq., of the Revenue Survey, a great 
sportsman and accurate observer of birds, told me that he obtained 
a young bird of this species and two eggs. The eggs were of a pure 
white colour, and about as large as the egg of the Indian Blue Pigeon. 
They were laid during the month of December. The stomach of one 
of these birds contained a rat. 
From the colour of the eggs, and the manner in which the radia- 
ting hairs between the eye and beak meet over the ridge of the beak, 
it has struck me that this bird approaches nearer to the family of the 
Harriers than that of the Kites. Dr. Jerdon, in his notes, also says 
that “it frequents long grass and grain fields, over which it may be 
seen to hover like the Kestril.” 
