196 W. Goodfellow—Familiar Birds of Singapore


write this on the verandah of my room, I see two, one fully adult,

and the other in the immature brown plumage. They have been

about all the morning. Last year I was invited for a cruise around

the island, and was surprised at the number we saw on the stakes of

the Malay fish traps around the coast. In many cases they did not

even trouble to fly off when our launch passed very close to them ;

the same with a few white Egrets mingling with them. This Eagle

has a wide range from the Nicobars to the Solomons, and to the north

coast of Australia. There is no doubt they vary in size throughout their

range, even allowing for this difference in the sexes. They nest on high

trees along the coast, seeming to prefer a small rocky island just off the

coast if a suitable tree exists on it. Once, entering the long irregular

gulf leading down to Ake Selaka, on the island of Halmahiera in the

Moluccas, the captain drew my attention to a pair with a nest in a

very high tree. He said they had been there for some years, and* he

always looked out for them. This was in May, and they then had

young in the nest. We dropped anchor almost under the tree, and

twice during the morning I saw a Brahminy Kite swoop over the nest

and catch up a fish while the Eagles were away. The adult bird is

entirely white with grey wings, and very striking looking. Not so,-

however, at our Zoo, where they are always grimy. Their voices

are rather weak, very different to some of their African relations, but

what they lack in volume they make up in quantity. As may be

supposed from their habits, they are easily caught by the Malays, and

it is not an uncommon sight to find tame ones in the Malay villages.

At one along the Johore coast, a captive pair spent their days on the

roots of a tree overhanging the beach, and whenever a “ prahu ”

approached they went down to the edge of the water to meet it, and

usually received a small fish or two. They were particularly partial

to crabs, and took these in preference to fish if they had the choice,

eating every particle of shell and claws if they were not too large. The

Malays say they prefer sea snakes to any other food. At times they

must be able to get any amount, as often great numbers may be seen

on the surface of the sea. At certain seasons another species with black

and grey bands often came from the sea in vast numbers, especially

after rain, to lay their eggs under the roots of trees along the beaches.



