58 
SPIZAETUS CEYLONENSIS. 
under wing-coverts white, the primary series spotted with dark brown, and the lining of the ulna washed with 
rufous-brown. 
Obs. The Crested Hawk-Eagle of Ceylon is a miniature representative of the peninsular Indian species S. cirrhatus. 
Gmelin recognized Latham’s Ceylonese Crested Falcon as a distinct form, and described it (loc. cit .) under the 
name of Falco ceylonensis ; but subsequent naturalists, overlooking its smaller size, have treated it as one and the 
same with its large ally, Mr. Gurney refutes this idea with reason, as will be seen by reference to his remarks 
on the species (‘ Ibis,’ 1877, p. 430). The maximum size which the insular bird attains in the wing is 15-3 inches, 
a measurement representing the minimum of cirrhatus, it being, however, at the same time about 2 inches below 
the average of the Indian species. I am not aware that the latter acquires the fuliginous plumage of ceylonensis ; 
and the light phase of this is, moreover, paler than the immature dress of the Indian bird, which appears to 
partake somewhat of the characteristics of the mature form above described. I have examined a large series, and 
have found them all less pale on the head than Ceylonese young birds, and many of them possess the chin-stripe and 
striated cheeks unknown in our buff-plumaged young. It is possible that ceylonensis may prove not to be peculiar 
to Ceylon, Mr. Hume having described a small bird from Travancore as Spizaetus sphinx, which may, when a 
sufficient series is obtained, prove identical with it as a resident in 8. India, or, should it turn out to have been a 
straggler, demonstrate the fact that Spizaetus ceylonensis strays over to the Indian coast from North Ceylon. 
The dimensions of Spizaetus sphinx (‘ Stray Feathers,’ vol. i. p. 321) are as follows : — “ Length 22 to 23 inches ; wing 
14-1 ; tail 10 - 2 ; tarsus 3'9 ; mid toe and claw 2 - 5 (nearly).” 
The upper plumage appears to bear a great resemblance to melanistic examples of the Ceylonese birds ; “ the whole 
back, top, and sides of the head (excluding the crest), back, and sides of the neck, a pale, slightly rufous-brown, 
each feather with a blackish-brown shaft-stripe.” The lesser lower wing-coverts are “ dull rufous, brown-shafted! 
more or less white-edged ; the rest white, very broadly barred* with deep brown.” In this the species seems to 
differ from S. ceylonensis, as also in the coloration of the throat, which is described as follows “ Chin and throat 
white, with one central and two lateral blackish-brown streaks, which unite at the base of the throat at the front of the 
neck ; below this for about an inch dull rufous-brown, like the sides and the back of the neck ; the breast white ; the 
feathers with huge dark brown drops, edged paler towards the tips ; sides, abdomen, lower tail-coverts, flanks, and 
exterior tibial plumes a nearly uniform, somewhat pale umber-brown, most of the feathers with inconspicuous 
very narrow whitish tips ; interior tibial plumes and tarsal feathers pale dingy yellowish brown, paling most 
towards the feet.” 
Distribution . — The small crested Eagle of Ceylon is chiefly a low-country bird, and is more or less 
dispersed throughout the maritime provinces and the interior jungles of the island. In the Eastern Province 
it is located in greatest force, and thence northwards it occurs principally along the coast, near salt-lakes 
and open tracts of land, to the delta of the Mahawelliganga and the district lying between Tamblegam and 
Kanthelai tank, where it is again more common than immediately to the south of the Virgel To the north of 
Trineomalie it is found in the open woods bordering the continuous salt-lakes of that part of the coast, and in 
the interior is met with generally in the vicinity of the tanks of the Yanni. Layard found it at Pt. Pedro ; 
but it is on the whole a scarce bird in the Jaffna peninsula. It occurs sparingly throughout the west of the 
island to the north of Negombo, but it is decidedly scarce between that place and Kalatura. 
In the wooded districts interspersed with paddy-cultivation, which form the south-west corner of the 
island, it is more common than in the Western Province, and again further east, beyond the Morowak Korale 
ranges, it becomes more numerous still, frequenting the low-lying jungles between Hambantota and the 
Badulla mountains. In the Kandyan Province it is not unfrequent up to an elevation of 4000 feet, occurring 
chiefly in the Knuckles ranges, in Medamahanuwara, Dumbara, and southwards to Ambegamoa, as also round 
the eastern slopes of the Maturata district into Uva proper and Madulsima. Mr. Bligli has obtained it in 
Kotmalie and in the spurs of the Haputale range, and Mr. Holdsworth speaks of having seen it at Nuwara 
Elliyaf. Layard mentions ( l . c.) that Kelaart obtained it at Nuwara Elliya ; but the latter does not include 
it in his list of birds from that locality (‘ Prodromus,’ p. xxix). 
* The italics are mine. 
t I have never seen any specimens of this bird from the Nuwara-Elliya plateau. 
nf ho ohciomrorl o a rmnm m U * 1 ' 1 ■ . , " 
- t . iiuwmn-jjmp piarau. Mr. Holdsworth speaks of the 
Eagle that he observed as soaring in “ wide circles, with a squealing cry.” This is a marked characteristic of the 
Serpent-Eagle {Spilorrus spdoyaster), whereas the Crested Eagle rarely soars, and seldom utters its cry on the wing I 
think, therefore, that Mr. Holdsworth may have been mistaken in his identification. 
