158 Supplement to tke Catalogue of the Birds [No. 30. 



the upper mandible — 4th and 5th quills nearly equal and 

 longest — 1st a good deal shorter than the 2d — 2d nearly as 

 long as the '3d — closed wing as long as tail which is slightly 

 rounded. 



This remarkable eagle I have placed for the present, 

 though with doubt, under the genus Nisaetus. It differs 

 from it in superior length of wing and tail — its shorter tarsus, 

 shorter toes, and more especially in their comparative size — 

 the outer toe and claw being remarkably small, and the inner 

 claw of very great size. The extreme shortness of the outer 

 toe, is, as far as I can recollect, peculiar to it among the diur- 

 nal Raptores of this country, though common among the 

 owls. Its habits too are, as far as I know, peculiar, and differ 

 from those of the other Indian eagles. 



I have lately procured two specimens of this curious eagle 

 (the first I have been able to obtain, though I have frequently 

 seen it), and a third specimen shot by S. N. Ward, Esq. has 

 also been examined by me. It hunts about the edges of the 

 hills more generally than on the higher parts of the table- 

 land, and most frequently over bushy ground, though I have 

 also seen it over forest, both on the top of the hills and half- 

 way down the Coonoor Ghaut. It sails slowly along with 

 very little motion of its wings, usually very close to the 

 ground, hunting tolerably regularly, not unlike the Harriers, 

 and like them hardly ever alights except for the purpose of 

 feeding. 



In the three specimens I have examined I found that eggs 

 and nestlings had formed its only food. Among these I re- 

 cognized the eggs of the hill quail ( Coturnix erythrorhyncha) 

 of the Tldmalia Somermllii, and of some doves ( Turtur iigrina 

 and T. Cambayensis) besides others I did not know, and 

 several nestlings. I have seen it, since I procured my spe- 

 cimens, alight for a few seconds on a large bush over which 

 it had been circling for some time, and apparently devour 



