SPIZ.AETUS CEYLONE'NSIS 
(THE CEYLON HAWK EAGLE) 
adult male and eemale 
Length to front of oere 21.5 to 23.5 Inches; culmen from oere 1.1 to 
1.25; wing 13.8 to 15.2, but rarely exceeding 14.75; tall 9 to 10.5; tarsus 
3.5 to 3.8; middle toe 1.8 to 2; Its claw (straight) .8 to 1; height of Dili 
at the cere .5 to .56; expanse 46 to 50. 
DISTRIBUTION 
The small crested eagle of Ceyloi Is chiefly a low country bird, ana is 
more or less dispersed throughout tne maritime provinces arm i&e imerxOT 
duaqles of the Island. In the Eastern province It Is located in the great¬ 
est force, and thence Northwards it occurs principally along the coast, 
near salt lakes and open tracts of land, to the delta of the Mahawelli gan- 
ga and the district lying between Tamblegara and Kanthalai lank, where it is 
again more common than Immediately to the South of the Vlrgel. To the Nort 
of Trincomalie It is found in the open woods bordering the conterminous 
salt lakes of that part of the coast*and In the interior It Is met with 
generally in the vicinity of the tanks of the Vanni. 
Layard found It at Point Pedro; but it is on the whole a scarce bird in 
the Jaffna peninsula. It occurs sparingly throughout the West of the is¬ 
land to the North of Negombo, but It is decidedly scarce between tnat place 
and Kalutara. 
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 be¬ 
comes more numerous still, frequenting the low lying jungles between Hamban- 
totte and the Badulla mountains. 
In the Kandlan Province it is not unfrequent up to an elevation of 4000 lb 
feet, occurring chiefly in the Knuckles ranges. In Medamahanewera, Dumbara, 
and Southwards to Arab eg amu a, as also round the Eastern slopes of the Matu- 
rata district into Uva proper and Madulsema. Mr Bllgh has obtained It in 
Kotmalie and In the spurs of the Haputale range, and Mr Holdsworth speaks of 
having seen It at Newera Ellla. Layard mentions that Kelaart obtained it 
at Newera Ellla; but the latter does not include it in the list of birds frou 
r 
that locality. 
HABITS 
This noble little eagle frequents open forests, the borders or heavy jun- 
