THE BAR-TAILED FISHING EAGLE. 
221 
feathers prominently barred with white on the inner webs ; the central 
pair obsoletely barred paler. 
The youngh.2iYe the upper plumage dark brown^ with buffy white margins 
to all the feathers^ and the under plumage is white. 
Iris bright yellow ; cere^ gape and eyelids dull greenish blue ; bill black ; 
legs pale greenish ; claws black. 
A female measured : length 22'5 inches^ tail 9^ wing 19^ tarsus 2*2_, bill 
from gape 1*6. The male is smaller. 
The Osprey is tolerably abundant in the Pegu and the Sittang rivers^ 
and probably also occurs in the Irrawaddy river. Mr. Blyth records it 
from Arrakan. Mr. Davison met with it only in the extreme south of 
Tenasserim ; but it is probable that, as it occurs in Pegu, it is also likely to 
be found along the whole of the coast of Tenasserim at certain seasons. 
It inhabits almost the whole of the tropical and temperate portions of 
the world. 
The Osprey is probably only a winter visitor to Burmah ; I have only 
observed it in the cold weather_, chiefly in November and December. Two 
or three pairs are usually located in the Sittang river, each pair apparently 
keeping a portion of the river for its own exclusive use. 
The Osprey is remarkable for the formation of its foot, the outer toe 
being reversible and pointing sideways. This causes it to have a very 
secure grasp of fish, upon which food it entirely subsists, catching the 
fish by darting down to tlie water with immense velocity. It hovers in the 
air a good deal, and at times settles on sandbanks to rest and to bathe. 
In Europe the Osprey usually builds its nest in some huge tree, construct- 
ing it of sticks, and laying three eggs, boldly blotched with reddish brown. 
Genus POLIO AETUS, Kaup. 
592. POLIOAETUS ICHTHYAETUS. 
THE BAB-TAILED FISHING EAGLE. 
Falco ichthyaetus, Horsf. Trans. Linn. Soc. xiii. p. 138. Polioaetus ichthyae- 
tus, Jei'd. B. Ind. i. p. 81 ; Hume, Rough Notes, ii. p. 239 ; id. Nests and Eggs, 
p. 43 ; Sharpe, Cat. Birds B. Mus. i. p. 452 ; Salvad. JJcc. Born. p. 6 ; Hume, 
S. F. iii. p. 29 ; Legge, S. F. iii. p. 363 ; Bl. B. Burm. p. 63 ; Armstrong, S. F. 
iv. p. 298; Hume, S. F. v. p. 129; Legge, Birds Ceylon, p. 72; Gurney, Ibis, 
1878, p. 455 ; Cripps, S. F. vii. p. 248 ; Hume, S. F. viii. p. 82 ; Bingham, S. F. 
ix. p. 144 ; Oates, S. F. x. p. 179 ; Kelham, Ibis, 1881, p. 367. 
Description. — Male and female. The whole head and neck all round 
grey ; the entire upper plumage and breast brown ; tail white, with a 
