NESTING IN WESTERN INDIA, 215 
in December and January. 
Neemuch, 2nd March. H. H. Barnes. 
39.—THE CRESTED SERPENT EAGLE. 
Spilornis cheela, Lath. 
The Crested Serpent or Indian Harrier Hagle is very rare, but 
specimens have been obtained from several widely separated 
localities within the limits of the Presidency. 
* A specimen in the Bombay Natural History Society’s collection 
bears a label, stating that it was shot off the nest, which contained 
but a single egg. 
The nest is placed in a fork halfway up a tree, alwaysintho neigh- 
bourhood of water ; it is made of sticks and twigs, lined with grass 
and green leaves. The egg, they do not appear to lay more than one, 
is generally of an oval shape, rather smaller at one end; the colour 
is greentsh-, blutsh-, seldom reddish-white, and is more or less 
spotted and blotched with reddish or purplish-brown. They are 
occasionally very richly coloured. 
Mr. Hume found the eggs to average 2°78 inches in length by 
nearly 2°2in breadth. They breed during the hot season. 
39 bis —-THE LESSER HARRIER EAGLE. 
Spilornis melanotis, Jerd. 
The Lesser Harrier Eagle is not uncommon in the Ratnagiri dis- 
trict, and is sparingly distributed in the hilly tracts and jungles 
along the Western Ghats, where it is said to breed during the hot 
weather, both nest and eggs being of the same type as those of the 
larger and better known Serpent Hagle, Spilornis cheela, but the 
eggs, occasionally at least, are two in number, and are smaller. 
Not much is known at present regarding the nidification of this 
interesting bird. 
It is considered by many to be only a sub-species of S. cheela, 
but I believe an examination of the specimens in Mr. A. O. Hume’s 
collection (now in the British Museum), would result in its re- 
establishment as a good species. 
8. Konkan, 18th to 20th March. G. Vidal, C.S. 
* This specimen wss shot by Mr. I. Littledale, at Pattra, Panch Mahals, 12th 
April, 1886. Vide B. N. U. 8. Jonrnal, p. 195, No. 4, Vol. I. 
Mr. Davidson, C.S., found it breeding east of Sholapur, on cliffs, 
