also crossed by seven blackish-brown bars, the upper one being, however, somewhat indistinct, and the two
lower being separated by an interval which is twice the breadth of the spaces between the other bars. The
throat has a broad blackish band running down its centre, with two similar and nearly parallel bands proceeding
from the corners of the mouth, the three bands all merging in a cluster of dark brown lanceolate
marks upon the upper portion of the breast, the intervals between these markings and also the whole
plumage of the lower sternal and abdominal regions being tinged with a yellowish rufous ; the under tail-
coverts are barred with brown and white, the former bars being much broader than the latter ; and the thighs
and tarsi are marked throughout their length with narrow equidistant transverse bars of the same colours.
“ A second and apparently less adult specimen in the Norwich Museum resembles the one above described,
except in the crest being less developed and in the colours generally being somewhat lighter, particularly on
the bead, and the markings, especially on the lower part of the tarsi, being paler and less distinct.
“ S p izaetus N ipa l en s is, Hodgson.—The following description of this fine species, the largest of the Asiatic
Spizaèti, is extracted from Mr. T. C. Jerdon’s excellent work on the Birds of India, now in course of
publication^-* Plumage of the upper parts deep brown, very dark on the interscapulars, and verging on
black on the crown and occipital crest, which is slightly tipped with white, and is 4 inches long; nuchal
feathers edged tawny brown ; chin blackish, continued as a median line to the breast, which is fulvous brown
and with dark streaks ; or in some, the chin, throat, and breast fulvous, with large blackish-brown ovate spots ;
and a dark moustacheal band and two similar lateral streaks, at first very broad, proceed from the corners of
the gape ; belly, flanks, lower tail-coverts, and thigh-coverts more or less distinctly banded with brown and
white ; tarsal feathers banded whitish ; wings dark brown, banded with blackish ; under wing-coverts banded
with white ; tail light greyish brown, with five dark bands, as broad or broader than the interspaces ; upper
tail-coverts also banded brown and white. The feathers of the tarsus cover the bases of the toes.
“ ‘ Length of a male 29 inches ; wing 18; tail 13; tarsus 4 ; mid-toe 34.
“ ‘ Another, probably a female, was 32 inches ; wing 19 ; tail 14 ; tarsi 44- ; mid-toe and claw 3f.
“ ‘ This splendid Hawk-Eagle has been found on the Himalayas, in the Khasia Hills, and in Ceylon. I
got one specimen only at Daijeeling, where, however, it is well known, though rare, and is said to kill
pheasants, partridges, and other birds.’
“ To the above account I would add that the transverse abdominal bars which occur in this species are
frequently divided by the brown centre of the feather so as to present an appearance of white ovate spots,
which I have not observed in the other Asiatic Spizaèti. I would also remark that the ‘ Spizaetus orientalis ’
of Japan and Formosa, of which a Japanese example is figured in the ‘ Fauna Japonica,’ Aves, pl. 3, is
certainly closely allied to, and probably not specifically distinct from, this species.
“ S p iza etus c irrha tus, Gmel.—This species (the common Crested Eagle of India and Ceylon) differs
from S. Nipalensis in its somewhat smaller and much more variable size, in the paler character of the transverse
markings on the abdomen and thighs, in the entire absence of the white abdominal ovate spots, and
especially in the less powerful development of its talons generally, and of the inner and hinder claws in
particular, these being very decidedly smaller and feebler in this species than in S . Nipalensis.
“ S. cirrhatus is figured in the Planches Coloriées, pl. 282, under the name of ‘ Falco cristatellus.’
“ S p iza etus caligatus, Raffles.—This species is very nearly allied to the preceding (with which many
ornithologists consider it to be identical), but appears to differ from it in the following particulars, viz., first,
by the non-development of the crest, which is a marked feature in most specimens of S. cirrhatus, but
which is entirely absent in the great majority of specimens of S. caligatus, and when it does appear is
much less elongated than it usually is in S. cirrhatus ; second, by the bill being somewhat deeper and more
powerful, and the tarsi somewhat shorter, in S. caligatus than in S. cirrhatus, the comparison being, of
course, made between individuals of equal general size ; third, by the wider geographical range of S. caligatus,
which is found not only in India and Ceylon, but also in Burmah, the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra,
Borneo, and Java ; fourth, by the tendency to melanism, which is of constant occurrence in S. caligatus,
while in S. cirrhatus such a variety is very rare. This black variety of S. caligatus has been observed in
Java to be permanent and hereditary, and to be commoner in that island than the paler race. Some naturalists
have, indeed, considered it as specifically distinct ; and such is the opinion expressed by Dr. Bernstein
(a resident in Java) in a very interesting paper published in Cabanis’s Journal of Ornithology,
vol. viii. p. 417. The adult of the paler race is figured by Temminck in the Planches Coloriées, pl. 127,
under the title of ‘ Ifalco nit>eus\ and the same work contains a figure, in pl. 134, of the dark variety,
under the name of ‘ Falco limnaëtus :’ the latter is also figured in Horsfield’s Zoological Researches in Java,
Aves, pl. 3.
“ In conclusion, I may recapitulate the species of Asiatic Spizaèti which I have above enumerated, and
which, in my opinion, may be considered as distinct :—■
“ Spizaetus alboniger, Blyth ; S. lanceolatus, Temminck ; S. Kieneri, De Sparre ; S. Philippensis, nobis ;
S. Nipalensis, Hodgson ; S . cirrhatus, Gmelin ; S. caligatus, Raffles.”