DIURNAL BIRDS OF PREY. 
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measuring 26 inches, against 32 in the largest African species. It is thus rather 
larger than a kite. The general colour of the adult bird is dark brown, with a 
purplish gloss above, and the head tending to ashy brown, the quills being dusky 
black. The tail is pale ashy brown, with a white tip, and three dusky trans¬ 
verse bars. Beneath, the colour is white, the throat narrowly streaked with brown, 
and with a black shaft-stripe to each feather; while the flanks are banded with 
COMMON HARRIER-EAGLE (J Uat. size). 
widely separated dark bars. The iris is orange-yellow, the cere whitish, the bill 
horn-coloured at the tip and grey at the base, and the feet pale greyish brown. 
Jerdon writes that in India this harrier - eagle is spread over all the more open 
parts of the country, generally avoiding thick jungle and forest. “ It may often be 
seen sitting on a low tree, whence it occasionally darts on its quarry; but it 
generally circles in the air, taking a long and lofty flight, now and then flying 
heavily along the ground like a harrier. I have frequently seen it hover in the air 
like a kestrel, and drop down on its prey, like a stone, afterwards. It is a rather 
