58 SPIZAETUS CEYLONENSIS. 



under wing-coverts white, the primary series spotted with dark brown, and the lining of the ulna washed with 

 rufous-brown. 



Obs The Crested Hawk-Eagle of Ceylon is a miniature representative of the peninsular Indian species <S'. cirrhatus. 

 ' Gmeliu recognized Latham's Ceylonese Crested Falcon as a distinct form, and described it (he. cit.) under the 

 name of Falco ceylonensis ; but subsequent naturalists, overlooking its smaller size, have treated it as one and the 

 same with its large ally. Mr. Gurney refutes this idea with reason, as will be seen by reference to his remarks 

 on the species (' Ibis,' 1877, p. 430). The maximum size which the insular bird attains in the wing is 15*3 inches, 

 a measurement representing the minimum of cirrhatus, it being, however, at the same time about 2 inches below 

 the average of the Indian species. I am not aware that the latter acquires the fuliginous plumage of ceylonensis ; 

 and the light phase of this is, moreover, paler than the immature dress of the Indian bird, which appears to 

 partake somewhat of the characteristics of the mature form above described. I have examined a large series, and 

 have found them all less pale on the head than Ceylonese young birds, and many of them possess the chin-stripe and 

 striated cheeks unknown in our buff-plumaged young. It is possible that ceylonensis may prove not to be peculiar 

 to Ceylon, Mr. Hume having described a small bird from Travancore as Spizaetus sphinx, which may, when a 

 sufficient series is obtained, prove identical with it as a resident in S. India, or, should it turn out to have been a 

 straw oler, demonstrate the fact that Spizaetus ceylonensis strays over to the Indian coast from North Ceylon. 



The dimensions of Spizaetus sphinx (' Stray Feathers,' vol. i. p. 321) are as follows : — " LeDgth 22 to 23 inches ; wing 

 14-1 ; tail 10'2 ; tarsus 3'9 ; mid toe and claw 2-5 (nearly)." 



The upper plumage appears to bear a great resemblance to melanistic examples of the Ceylonese birds ; " the whole 

 back, top, and sides of the head (excluding the crest), back, and sides of the neck, a pale, slightly rufous-brown, 

 each feather with a blackish-brown shaft-stripe." The lesser lower wing-coverts are " dull rufous, brown-shafted, 

 more or less white-edged ; the rest white, very broadly barred * with deep brown." In tins the species seems to 

 differ from S. ceylonensis, as also in the coloration of the throat, which is described as follows : — " Chin and throat 

 white, with one central and two lateral blackish-brown streaks, which unite at the base of the throat at the front of the 

 neck ; below this for about an inch dull rufous-brown, like the sides and the back of the neck ; the breast white ; the 

 feathers with huge dark brown drops, edged paler towards the tips ; sides, abdomen, lower tail-coverts, flanks, and 

 exterior tibial plumes a nearly uniform, somewhat pale umber-brown, most of the feathers with inconspicuous 

 very narrow whitish tips ; interior tibial plumes and tarsal feathers pale dingy yellowish brown, paling most 

 towards the feet." 



Distribution. — The small crested Eagle of Ceylon is chiefly a low-country bird, and is more or less 

 dispersed throughout the maritime provinces and the interior jungles of the island. In the Eastern Province 

 it is located in greatest force, and thence northwards it occurs principally along the coast, near salt-lakes 

 and open tracts of land, to the delta of the Mahawelligauga and the district lying between Tamblegam and 

 Kanthelai tank, where it is again more common than immediately to the south of the Virgel. To the north of 

 Trincomalie it is found in the open woods bordering the continuous salt-lakes of that part of the coast, and in 

 the interior is met with generally in the vicinity of the tanks of the Vanni. Layard found it at Pt. Pedro ; 

 but it is on the whole a scarce bird in the Jaffna peninsula. It occurs sparingly throughout the west of the 

 island to the north of Negoinbo, but it is decidedly scarce between that place and Kalatura. 



In the wooded districts interspersed with paddy-cultivation, which form the south-west corner of the 

 island, it is more common than in the Western Province, and again further east, beyond the Morowak Korale 

 ranges, it becomes more numerous still, frequenting the low-lying jungles between Hambantota and the 

 Badulla mountains. In the Kandyan Province it is not unfrequent up to an elevation of 4000 feet, occurring 

 chiefly in the Knuckles ranges, in Medamahanuwara, Dumbara, and southwards to Ambcgamoa, as also round 

 the eastern slopes of the Maturata district into Uva proper and Madulsima. Mr. Bligh has obtained it in 

 Kotmalie and in the spurs of the Haputale range, and Mr. Holdsworth speaks of having seen it at Nuwara 

 Elliyaf- Layard mentions (/. c.) that Kelaart obtained it at Nuwara Elliya ; but the latter does not include 

 it in his list of birds from that locality (' Prodromus/ p. xxix) . 



* The italics are mine. 



t I have never seen any specimens of this bird from the Nuwara-Elliya plateau. Mr. Holdsworth speaks of the 

 Eagle that he observed as soaring in " wide circles, with a squealing cry." This is a marked characteristic of the 

 Serpent-Eagle (Spilomis spiloi/aster), whereas the Crested Eagle rarely soars, and seldom utters its cry on the wiug. I 

 think, therefore, that Mr. Holdsworth may have been mistaken in his identification. 



