16 



EOYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY, (CEYLON BRANCH.) 



following notes I have adopted Mr. Holds worth's nomenclature f 

 followed by Layard's and Kelaart's synonyms, used in the Annals 

 and Magazine of Natural History for 1853 -54, and the " Prodro- 

 mus Fauna? Zeylanica" published in 1852. 



1. Spilorins Bach a, Do ?idi/i. — The Crested Serpent Eagle, 

 the "Ceylon Eagle" of some writers; Rajali, Sink. In young 

 plumage, Spilornis Spilogaster, Blyth — vide Holdsworth, Cata- 

 logue Ceylon Birds, P. Z. S. 1872, No. 13. HasmatornisGheela, 

 Layard, Annals Natural History, 1853, page 99, volume 12; 

 Kelaart, Prodromus Faunae Zeylanica, page 114. 



Distributed throughout the whole Island up to the highest parts of 

 the Central Province; common in all the coffee districts, and 

 both in low wooded and the hill country of the south-west; 

 numerous in the neighbourhood of Trincomalee, and occurs 

 throughout the Eastern and Northern Provinces, affecting marshes 

 and the borders of large tanks; scarce in the dry districts of the 

 south-east. 



2. Haliaetus Leucogaster, Gmelin— The white-bellied 



le, Grey-backed Sea Eagle. Pontoretus Leucogaster — 

 Layard, Annals Natural History, 1853, volume 12, page 100; 

 Kelaart, Prodromus Fauna? Zeylanica, page 112. 



Distributed round the whole coast of Ceylon, affecting chiefly mouths 

 of large rivers, brackish lakes, salt lagoons, and large inland 

 back waters; most numerous in the Hambantota district, and on 

 the chain of lagoons and lakes between Trincomalee and the 

 Jaffna Peninsula ; common at Jaffna and down the west coast to 

 Puttalam; scarce in the south-west, occurring at the mouths of 

 rivers and on brackish lagoons in that part; extends some distance 

 up large rivers, but it is not found on inland tanks. 



3. Polioaetus Ichthyaetus, Horsf. — The white-tailed 

 Sea Eagle. Pontoaetus Ichthyaetus.-- Layard, Annals Natural 

 History, page 101, 1853; omitted from Kelaart's list, Prodromus 

 Faunae Zeylanica. 



Numerous about tanks in the Eastern Province, on the north- 

 eastern coast, and in the Vanni: frequents the salt lagoons and 

 . estuaries to the north of Trincomalee ; occurs on the north-west 

 coast (Holdsworth's Catalogue Ceylon Birds), rare on the south- 

 east coast, but observed in the Hambantota and Kataragama 

 country. This species is nowhere so abundant as P. leucogaster. 



4. Haliastur Indus, Bodd — Brahminy Kite; Brown- 

 backed Kite ; Kajali, Sink. 



Abundant about most of the bays, mouths of rivers, salt lagoons, and 

 brackish waters round the whole Island, affects in particular Galle 



