ACCIPITRES. 



FALCONID.E. 



AQUILIN.E. 



Genus HALIASTUE. 



Bill stout, rather lengthened, the direction of the cere straight, the culmen descending from 



its edge ; festoon prominent. Nostrils oval and ohlique, exposed. Eyelid furnished with short 



lashes. Wings long, reaching nearly to the tip of the tail, the 4th quill the longest. Tail 



short and broad at base, rounded at the tip. Tarsus short, feathered in front slightly below the 



knee, moderately stout, protected in front by rectangular transverse scales, behind with broad 



pentagonal scutse. Toes rather short, the outer considerably longer than the inner, the whole 



covered with transverse scales. Claws shortish, moderately curved and trenchant beneath. 



HALIASTUE INDUS. 



(THE BRAHMINY KITE.) 



Falco Indus, Bodd. Tabl. PL Enl. 25 (1783). 



Falco pondicerianus, Gm. Syst. Nat. i. p. 2G5 (1788). 



Haliaetus pontieerianus, Cuv. Regne An. i. p. 316 (1817). 



Milvus pondicerianus, Jerd. Madr. Journ. x. p. 72 (1839). 



Haliastur indus, Gray, Gen. B. i. p. 18 (1845) ; Blyth, Cat. B. Mus. A. S. B. p. 31 ; Kelaart, 



Prodromus, Cat. p. 114 (1852) ; Layard, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1853, xii. p. 101 ; Horsf. 



and Moore, Cat. B. Mus.E. I. Co. i. p. 57 (1854); Jerdon, B. of Ind. i. p. 101 ; Hume, 



Rough Notes, ii. p. 316 (1870); Holdsworth, P. Z. S. 1872, p. 414 ; Hume, Nests and 



Eggs, p. 51 (1873); Sharpe, Cat. Birds, i. p. 313 (1874); Legge, Ibis, 1874, p. 10, et 



1875, p. 279. 

 Haliaetus indus, Schl. Mus. P.-B. Aquilm, p. 19 (1862). 

 L'Aigle de Pondicherg, Briss. Orn. i. p. 450, pi. 35 (1760). 

 Aigle des Grandes hides, Buff. PL Enl. i. pi. 416 (1770). 

 Shiva's Kite, Kelaart, Prodromus ; Pondicherrg Eagle, Lath. ; Maroon-baeked Kite, Jerdon, 



B. of Ind. 

 Bahmani-chil, Hind. ; Bu-Mubarik, Mussulmen ; Sunker-chiJ, lit. " Shiva's Kite ; " JJhobia- 



chil, lit. " Washerman's Kite," Beng. ; Kliemankari, Sanscrit ; Batta ookab, Sindh ; 



Garud-alawa, Tel. ; Shemberrid, Yerklees (ajnid Jerdon). Lang-bondol, Sumatra ; 



Ulung, Java (Horsf. & Moore, Cat.). 

 Bajaliya, Sinhalese; Chem Prandu,T&m. ; Br/malgumoitUfFortuguese in Ceylon (apad Layard). 



Adult male. Length to front of cere 18 - to 18 - 5 inches ; culmen from cere 1"1 ; wing 14 - 5 to 15-0 ; tail 8 - to 0-.3 ; 

 tarsus 2-0 to 2-25 ; mid toe 1-2, claw (straight) 0-7 ; height of bill at cere 0-5. 



Adult female. Slightly larger only. Length to front of cere about 19 - inches ; culmen from cere 1*2 ; wing 15-0 to 15-3. 



Iris brown and mottled in some with yellow ; cere yellowish ; bill bluish horn, palest at the base beneath ; legs and 

 feet greenish yellow. 



