HALIAETUS LEUCOG ASTER. 69 



In tbe third year traces of immature plumage sometimes remain in the form of patches on the chest and some brown 

 feathers in the wing-coverts ; but I imagine that, as a rule, the adult dress is then put on. 



There was a singular example of this Eagle, exhibiting a phase of plumage bordering on melanism, in the Zoological 

 Gardens last year, and which it may be interesting to notice here. The head and neck were uniform earth-brown, 

 and the back and wings dark brown ; the cheeks and throat were pale brownish, and the whole under surface sooty 

 brown : under surface of quills pale greyish, and the lesser under wing-coverts tawny. 



Distribution. — The Grey-backed. Sea-Eagle is a common bird round the whole of the north and east 

 coasts and down the west side of the island to the lower end of the Puttalam lake. On the Jaffna lake and 

 among the numerous islands off the west coast of the peninsula, as well as on the many back waters and 

 estuaries from Point Pedro to Batticaloa, it is a characteristic ornithological feature of the coast ; and further 

 south every river-mouth that debouches on, and every salt lagoon that lines the shore from Kalmunai to Tangalla 

 has its pair of Eagles. On the west coast, from Chilaw to Point de Galle, where the line of coast is less cut 

 up by brackish inlets, it is not so frequent, being there confined to particular localities, such as the Negombo, 

 Panadure, and Amblangoda lakes and the estuaries of Kalatura and Bentota. In the harbour of Galle a pair 

 are often to be seen, and have their head-quarters at the Kogalla Lake or other neighbouring sheet of water, 

 where an abundant supply of fish furnishes them with daily food. It is not, however, confined to the sea- 

 coast ; for the large tanks of the Eastern Province, viz. Ambare, Erakkamum, and others, are frequented by it ; 

 and in the northern half of the island it is a permanent resident on all the large inland sheets of water, such as 

 Minery, Kanthelai, and Tissa Wewa tanks. Its presence at the two former of these lakes adds no little to 

 their romantic beauty ; there are always one or two pairs there, which breed in the adjacent forest, and probably 

 never leave the vicinity of these fine sheets of water. At Minery there is an eyrie on the great bund of the 

 tank, and at Kanthelai a huge nest existed, until it was cut down, for many years in the fork of a lofty dead 

 tree which towered above the surrounding forest on the north side of the lake. 



The Grey-backed Sea-Eagle has a wide geographical range, extending north to south from Northern India 

 to Tasmania, and west to east from the Cape of Good Hope to the Friendly Islands. In India it is chiefly 

 confined to the sea-coast, and on the western side does not extend commonly above Bombay. It is very 

 numerous near Pigeon Island (lat. 14° N.), which forms one of its chief breeding strongholds. At the Lacca- 

 dive group it is rare, Mr. Hume recording but one specimen, which he saw at the island of Amini. In the 

 other islands of the Indian Ocean, to the south-west, viz. the Seychelles, Mauritius, &c, it disappears, but 

 again appears at the Cape of Good Hope, provided, that is, that M. Verreaux's specimen in the British 

 Museum is correctly labelled. Returning to India we find it more common on the east coast than it is on the 

 west, and at some parts of it it extends far inland, for Mr. Ball records it as by no means rare in Chota Nagpur. 

 In Burmah it is likewise common ; Mr. Davison procured it in Tenasserim, and Mr. Armstrong along the 

 coast of the Irrawaddy delta, but found that it did not extend far up the Rangoon river. In the Gulf of Siam, 

 Pinlayson says that it frequents the desert islands. In the Malay peninsula and in all the islands of the 

 Bay of Bengal it is numerous, and it inhabits the entire chain of the Malay islands from Sumatra to Timor, 

 and extends thence through Borneo, Celebes, and the Moluccas to the Philippines, in which group it has been 

 found as far north as Luzon. Eastward and to the south of the Philippines it has been found in the Solomon 

 Islands and in New Guinea. Down the entire east coast of Australia to the islands of Bass's Straits and 

 Tasmania it is a common bird, and, according to Gould, extends up the west coast of the insular continent 

 to Swan River; but I have no doubt that it inhabits the entire western seaboard round to Torres Straits. 

 It has not been observed in New Zealand, which, in spite of the peculiar character of the ornis of this country, 

 is somewhat singular in a bird of such wide range. 



Habits. — The island of Ceylon being devoid of the larger and more regal members of the genus Aquila, the 

 present species must be considered to rank foremost among its Eagles. Though not possessing the courageous 

 nature or the bold aspect of the powerful Mountain Hawk-Eagle, the lofty, noble flight and commanding 

 bearing of this fine bird, together with the associations of foaming shores and flowing tides, amidst which it 

 passes its life, impart to it an interest for the naturalist and sportsman which does not attach to its congeners 

 of the hills and forests. It frequents the open coasts of North and East Ceylon, as well as the estuaries, lagoons, 

 land-locked bays, and salt lakes which form the chief geographical feature of the seaboard. It lives in pairs, 



