LITTLE EAGLE. 
However, in the Ihis 1882, p. 454, Gurney recorded a specimen from the 
Astrolabe Mountains, New Guinea, as N. Tnorphnoides, commenting upon its 
small size and slight differences in coloration. 
Examination of the New Guinea bird, which is obviously only 
subspecifically separable from the Australian one, shows that it differs more 
superficially from the latter than the latter does from typical 'pennatus. 
Consequently, as might be concluded from Gould’s and Gurney’s remarks, 
the Australian bird can only be regarded as subspecifically distinct from 
pennatus, which must come into use for the species-name. 
The different forms of the Palsearctic fauna will have been discussed by 
Hartert in his Vogel Palaarht. Fauna, but I have not seen the part covering 
this bird. I therefore simply regard all the Palsearctic birds as 
Hieraaetus pennatus pennatus Gmelin. 
Faho pennatus Gmehn, Syst. Nat., p. 272, 1788, was based entirely on 
Brisson, who described the bird from an unknown locality. In Dr. Hartert’s 
work a definite locality will be accurately given and consequently I do 
not designate such. 
The New Guinea form will bear the name 
Hieraaetus pennatus weiskei Reichenow. 
In the Ornith. Monatsber., Vol. VIII., p. 185, 1900, Reichenow named 
the bird from S.E. New Guinea Eutolmcetus weiskei, confirming the distinctions 
first pointed out by Gurney, but there minimised. The Australian birds I 
class under the name 
Hieraaetus pennatus morphnoides Gould. 
I separated the Western form under the name Aquila morphnoides 
coongani, but longer series show so much variation and the plumage-changes 
seem to be misunderstood, so that I withhold recognition for the present. 
In the British Museum I observe the following differences in the forms. 
A specimen of typical weiskei, compared with an Indian specimen 
of pennatus, shows the under-surface to agree exactly in marking, the 
broad brown feather stripes of weiskei which distinguish it at sight from 
morphnoides being accurately seen. The upper-surface, however, in these 
two specimens disagrees vividly. Weiskei has the whole tone darker, but 
the head is blackish-brown with no rust coloration showing. The head 
and neck at the back in pennatus is rusty, with the centre of the feathers 
brown : the primaries in weiskei have white bases, but in pennatus they 
show no white but deep grey only ; the tail shows the barring more 
distinctly in weiskei than in pennatus. 
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