Mr. R. B. Sharpe’s Catalogue of Accipitres. 431 
Mr. Layard, in his papers on the ornithology of Ceylon, 
published in the f Annals of Natural History' for 1851, refers 
to the ordinary Hawk-Eagle of that island* under the title 
of “ Spizaetus limnaelus , Horsf.," and appends to his account 
of it the following remark :—“ There is a singularly dark 
variety of this species which I have only seen at Port Pedro, 
and that hut very rarely." The only Ceylonese specimen 
which I have seen that could at all be called a “ dark variety," 
is a living one recently presented by Captain W. Y. Legge 
to the Zoological Society of London. This bird much resem¬ 
bles in plumage that of Captain Feilden's Thayetmyo speci¬ 
men of L. caligatus, which I have already described; but it 
seemed to me to be decidedly smaller, and it has an occipital 
crest which, though not now much elongated, is slender and 
well defined; the irides in this specimen are a pale greyish 
straw-colour. I understand that it is now five years old, and 
was taken from the nest near Point de Galle by Captain Legge, 
who informs me that he intends to favour the readers of ‘ The 
Ibis' with some notes on the changes of plumage which it 
has undergone, and on those of the Ceylon Spizaeti generally. 
I understand from Captain Legge that the colour of the iris 
in this specimen is that usual to the young bird of both the 
paler and the darker phases of plumage, and that both these 
have a yellow iris when adult, which this individual has 
probably not acquired in consequence of having been kept 
in captivity. 
Mr. Hume's description of his L. sphynx, from Travancorefi, 
seems to me to be probably referable to a specimen of L. 
ceylonensis intermediate in coloration between the ordinary 
pale-chested Ceylon bird and the darker plumage exhibited 
in the specimen lately presented by Captain Legge to the 
Zoological Society. 
I propose now to refer to Limnaetus nipalensis, respecting 
which I have to remark that Japan and Formosa should be 
added to the localities quoted for this species by Mr. Sharpe. 
* One of Mr. Layard’s Ceylon specimens is preserved in the Norwich 
Museum. 
t Vide 1 Stray Feathers,’ vol. i. p. 321. 
