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39. :- Jerdon's Birds of India, Vol. I, p. 78 ; Butler, Deccan, &c.; Stray Feathers, Vol. IX, p. 373 ; Murray's Vertebrate Zoology of Sind, p. 80; Hume's Scrap Book, p. 222.

The Crested Serpent Eagle,
 

Length, 26 to 28 ; expanse, 58 to 63 ; wing, 18.5 to 20; tail, 12 to 13 ; tarsus, 3.9 to 4.3 ; bill from gape, 1.9.

Length, 29 to 32; expanse, 67.5 to 73; wing, 19.5 to 21; tail, 14 to 15 ; tarsus, 4.15 to 4.5 ; bill from gape, 2.12.

Cere and orbits deep yellow; irides bright yellow; legs dirty yellow.

Adult: head black, the feathers white on their basal portion, and for nearly two-thirds their Length, showing a conspicuous full black and white crest; above hair-brown; shoulders and lesser wing-coverts with small white spots, the quills with broad dusky bands; tail brown, mottled and clouded with white, and with two broad blackish bands; beneath chin to breast unspotted brown; thence to under tail-coverts pale brown, with whitish faint bars, and white ocelli.

The young bird has the upper plumage brown, edged with pale rufous, the crest feathers having more white than the adult; the tail hoary-brown, with three broad bars; quills brown, with darker bands, and the quills and medial wing-coverts tipped white; beneath pale whity-buff; the feathers of the breast darkest, and centred with brown; ear-coverts, and stripe beneath the eyes, deep black.

The Crested Serpent or Indian Harrier Eagle is very rare ; one was obtained at Savantvadi by Mr. Crawford, and another in Sind by Mr. Blanford. These are, I believe, the only recorded instances of its occurrence within our limits.

39bis. :- Butler, Deccan, &c.; Stray Feathers, Vol. IX, p. 373; Hume's Scrap Book, p. 230.

The Southern Harrier Eagle differs perceptibly from S. cheela of Upper India; the wings of the latter vary in the males from 18.5 to nearly 20 inches, and in the females from 19.5 to nearly 21; while in this present species they vary in the males from 17 to barely 18 inches, and in the females from 18 to 18.5 inches; the lower parts also are somewhat less conspicuously ocellated, and the barring on the breast, so conspicuous in adult cheela, is almost entirely wanting.

The Southern Harrier Eagle is a permanent resident and is not uncommon in the hilly tracts and jungles along the Western Ghats, but has not been recorded from elsewhere within our limits.

The Crested Serpent-Eagle.

Coloration. Adult. Crown and nape with full crest black, basal half or more of the feathers white; nape-feathers generally tipped with brown; lores nearly naked, bearing a few black bristles only; car-coverts blackish ashy; upper parts dark brown with a rich purple or ruddy gloss; smaller wing-coverts blackish, generally with small white spots ; quills blackish, with three bars brown above, whitish below, that farthest from the base of the feathers is by far the broadest, and is 3 or 4 inches from the tips, the basal two are sometimes confluent; upper tail-coverts tipped white, as are sometimes the back-feathers, scapulars, and secondary quills; tail brown at the base, thence almost black, with one broad white or whity-brown bar, tip pale; lower parts brown, sometimes dark umber, sometimes pale and tawny, sometimes rufous ; chin and throat more or less tinged or streaked with black or ashy; fore-neck and upper breast, as a rule, closely barred with pale brown; lower breast and abdomen, flanks, under wing-coverts, and axillaries ornamented with ocelli that are white surrounded with dark brown, these spots passing into dark-edged cross-bars, more or less broken, on the vent, thigh-coverts, and lower tail-coverts. The variation in the Coloration of the lower parts and in size is unusually great in this Eagle.

In young birds the crown and nape-feathers are white, with black and brown tips; the upper plumage of various shades of brown, the ends of the feathers generally darker, and the base white, many feathers with white tips ; lower parts, including the wing-lining, white with dark shafts or shaft-stripes on the breast; the whitish bars on the wings and tail are more numerous than in adults, generally there are 2 well-marked pale bands on the tail beyond the coverts.

As the bird grows older bars and ocelli appear on the lower parts. When nearly adult, there is still much white on the wing-lining, and remains of the second pale tail-bar may often be traced even in full-grown birds. In the intermediate stage the chin is very black, there are still dark shaft-stripes to the barred breast-feathers, and sometimes a few small white ocelli on the upper breast.

Bill plumbeous, bluish black at tip and on culmen; cere, skin of lores, and gape bright, or in some dingy lemon-yellow; irides intense yellow ; legs and feet pale dingy yellow.

Distribution. Throughout the Oriental region in suitable places, ascending the Himalayas to 4000 or 5000 feet. Very rare in the north-west of India, but I have seen this bird even in the Sind hills. There are several well-marked races so different in size and Coloration as to have been generally kept distinct; these are:—

(1) Typical S. cheela. This is the largest form—length about 29 inches; tail 13; wing 20 ; tarsus 4; bill from gape 1.9 : male rather smaller than female in general, but there is no constant difference. The breast and fore-neck are closely and distinctly barred, sometimes the throat also, the chin and throat are often black, and in adults there is a single broad whitish band on the tail. This form is found in Northern India from Sind and Kashmir to Bengal, especially at the base of the Himalayas, and stragglers have been met with throughout the Peninsula, there being one from Mysore in the Hume collection.

The race found in Assam, Cachar, and Burma is by Hume, rightly, I think, identified with the Hainan S. rutherfordi. The breast is generally barred, though less distinctly than in typical S. cheela, and the barring becomes less distinct in many Southern specimens. The chin and throat are dark ashy grey. As a rule, there is a second pale tail-bar, less distinct than the posterior one, just beyond the coverts; wings 17 to 18 inches long in Assamese and North-Burmese birds, in Tenasserim specimens the whole length is 23 to 28, tail 9.5 to 11, wing 15.25 to 18, tarsus 3.5 to 3.62.

The Andaman race S. davisoni, specimens of which have also been obtained in the Nicobars. This is simply a miniature of S. rutherfordi. Length 22 to 24, tail 10, wing 15, tarsus 3.7, bill from gape 1.7. Some Tenasserim specimens seem undistinguishable.

Further south, in the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Java, and Borneo, is another small form, S. pallidas, Walden (Ibis, 1872, p. 363; Cat. B. M. i, p. 290, pl. ix), without any bars on the breast; wing about 14.

Habits, &c. This Eagle is usually found on trees near water, especially the fine trees along irrigation-channels and canals in Upper India, and along stream-beds in the lower Himalayas and in the Central Provinces and Southern India. It may also be seen soaring and may be at once recognized by the strongly marked bars on its wings and tail, and by its loud plaintive cry, which it frequently utters on the wing. It feeds on snakes, lizards, and frogs, occasionally on small mammals, on birds, and on insects. It breeds on trees in March, April, and May, making a nest of sticks about 2 feet in diameter, lined with a pad of green leaves. It lays usually one egg, sometimes two, more or less densely streaked and spotted with brownish red and purple, and measuring about 2.78 by 2.2.

The Little Nicobar Serpent-Eagle.

Spilornis minimus, Hume, S. F. i, p. 404; ii, p. 149; iv, p. 282; id. Cat. no. 39 sept.; Gurney, Ibis, 1878, p. 101.

Coloration. Adult. Crown and nape black, the feathers white at the base and for more than half their length; upper parts dull umber-brown, with little or no metallic gloss ; quills blackish at the end, then a broad bar pale brown below, brown above, next a blackish bar narrower than the pale one, then another pale band, inner webs above this mostly white; tail blackish brown, with two paler brown bars; ear-coverts and lower parts brown, but paler than back; upper breast without bars; lower breast, abdomen, and thigh-coverts with broad white spots, the borders of the spots scarcely darker than the spaces between; inner wing-coverts chiefly white.

Young very similar to that of S. cheela.

Bill light blue, dark horny at tip; cere, gape, orbital skin, and irides bright yellow; legs and feet also yellow (Hume).

Length about 19; tail 8; wing 11.5; tarsus 3; bill from gape 1.6.

Distribution. The Nicobar Islands, whence several specimens were obtained by Mr. Hume.

The Lesser Serpent-Eagle.

Falco albidus Temm., Pl. Col., iv, pl. 19 (1824) (Pondicherry). Spilornis cheela. Blanf. & Oates, iii, p. 357.

Vernacular names. Walla pamula gedda (Tel.); Botta Genda (Gond.)* Goom (Can.); Murayala (Mahr.).

Description. Similar to S. c. cheela but rather smaller; the upper breast is generally uniform, the white spots not reaching so high and the barring being obsolete; the chin and throat never appear to become black but are grey or grey-brown in very old birds; the tail in adults nearly always has two pale bands, though that at the base is sometimes indistinct; the underparts are normally less rufescent.

Colours of soft parts as in the other races.

Measurements, Wing 421 to 461 mm.; tail 275 to 310 mm.; tarsus 94 to 101 mm.; culmen 42 to 46 mm.

Distribution. Practically all India South of the Himalayas. Specimens from Bengal can be distinguished by their rufous under plumage, similar to that of the Himalayan birds. On the other hand, their small size seems to link them with the Southern form. They are very close to S. c. burmanicus but have the long terminal black band to the primaries, as in S. cheela cheela.

Nidification. Stewart found this Eagle breeding in some numbers in the Plains of Travancore from December to March, and Vidal took nests in the latter month in the Konkan. Further North it breeds later. Irvine took eggs in Chota Nagpore in April and May, whilst in Rungpur I took one egg in September, perhaps an abnormal time. The nest is like that of the preceding bird and the eggs only differ in being smaller and, as a series, less richly coloured. Thirty eggs average 65.7 x 50.9 mm.: maxima 72.4 x 52.4 and 68.1 x 54.3 mm.; minima 61.1 X 48.7 mm.

Habits. Those of the species. Stewart found both this form and S. c. spilogaster in Travancore but the present race kept entirely to the plains whereas the Ceylon form kept entirely to the hills. He at first thought the two forms were S. c. cheela and S. c. albidus but an examination of the skins proved them to be the latter form and S. c. spilogaster, the latter race being very common in the hills of South Travancore.

The Burmese C rested Serpent-Eagle.

Spilornis cheela burmanicus Kirke-Swann, Synopsis Accip., 2nd ed. p. 81 (1920) (Thyetmyo, Burma). Spilornis cheela. Blanf. & Oates, iii, p. 357 (part.).

Vernacular names. Doun-zoon, Lin-yen (Burmese); Sin (Assam).

Description. A rather smaller, paler race than typical cheela ; the white spots on the lower plumage are larger and more conspicuous, the black adjoining spots are paler and less conspicuous; the terminal black band on the primaries is not quite so broad.

Colours of soft parts the same in all races.

Measurements. Wing 408 to 463 mm.*

Distribution. Burma, South to Tavoy, North to Shan States, Ruby Mines District, Chin Hills and Assam South of the Brahmapootra. Hume identified this form with the similar but much smaller Hainan race rutherfordi, which does not occur within our limits.

Nidification. Harington obtained a nest of this species with one egg on the 26th March, built high up against the trunk of a big tree in dense forest; Hopwood took another on the 14th February in the Lower Chindwin; Bingham took an egg in Tenasserim in March; a fourth egg was taken by myself in Silchar in May. These four eggs measure 67.9 x 58.2, 73.1 x 56.0, 69.3 x 57.1 and 66.3 x 54.0 mm. One egg is white with a little stippling of light, red at the larger end, the second is lightly clouded and blotched with pale purple-red at this end and the others are handsomely marked all over with dark red.

Habits. Exactly the same as those of the typical form.

* Possibly the bigger birds are wandering specimens of S. o. cheela, as there are very few over 450 mm. and these from, the Western area only.

The Indian Crested Serpent-Eagle.

Falco cheela Lath., Ind. Orn., i, p. 14 (1790) (Lucknow). Spilornis cheela. Blanf. & Oates, iii, p. 357 (part.).

Vernacular names. Fury baj, Dogra chil (Hind. Sabaranpore) ; Tilai baj, Sabchur (Beng.); Sin (Assam).

Description. Crown, nape and full crest black, the white bases of the feathers showing through more or less, the feathers of the nape edged with fulvous-brown and those of the posterior crown to a lesser degree; upper parts dark brown, often with a distinct gloss; lesser wing-coverts blackish-brown with white spots ; other wing-coverts like the back, sometimes, perhaps in younger birds, with narrow white edges; quills blackish-brown with a broad paler brown band near the end and two narrower bands below this, inner webs mottled and marked with white on the inner webs below the notches; there are also narrow white tips to the quills in freshly-moulted birds; upper tail-coverts tipped white; tail black, narrowly tipped whitish, brownish at the base and with one broad pale brown or white band across the centre; lower parts rufous or tawny-brown; chin and throat ashy-brown with narrow rufous bars and tips; the breast generally all brown or grey-brown with little barring and very narrow rufous fringes; remainder of lower parts with white spots, having black patches above and below them ; on the abdomen these spots and patches become more like bars, whilst on the lower tail-coverts they appear as alternate bars of brown, white and black.

Colours of soft parts. Iris golden yellow; bill slaty-blue, nearly black on the culmen and tip ; cere and lores yellow, brighter in the breeding-season, rather dull and dingy at other times ; legs and feet dull yellow, the tarsi naked and covered with hexagonal scales, claws black.

Measurements. Wing 468 to 507 mm.; tail 295 to 315 mm. tarsus 100 to 102 mm.; culmen 41 to 45 mm. The sexes in this genus do not differ in size.

Young birds have the feathers of the head, nape and crest fulvous-white, with dark brown sub-apical patches ; the upper parts are brown, often paler than in the adult, with broad white fringes; the inner wing-coverts have broad white edges and broken bars ; the tail has six bands of dark brown and pale brown, the latter often mottled with white; the lower parts are at first white, sullied brownish-white or fulvous-white with a few dark streaks on the breast and flanks; the bars on the wings are more numerous than in the adult.

The occellated brown under plumage seems to be acquired before the upper adult plumage but the chin and throat remain white for some time.

Distribution. Northern India from Sind and Kashmir to Eastern Assam but not the extreme East of Assam or to the countries South of the Brahmapootra. Birds from extreme Eastern Bengal are somewhat intermediate between the typical form and Kirke-Swann's burmanicus and the Southern Indian albidus.

Nidification. This magnificent Eagle breeds from the foot-hills up to some 7,000 feet in the Himalayas, building a large stick-nest high up on some tall forest-tree, preferably one standing by a stream or some natural opening. Some nests are well lined with green leaves, others quite unlined. The eggs, of which one only is laid, are very handsome. The ground is white, creamy white, or very faintly yellowish white and they are boldly blotched with rich brown and red-brown, with sparse secondary markings of lavender and purple-grey. In a few eggs the markings are more clouds than blotches and the underlying lavender blotches better defined; in most eggs the markings are more numerous at the larger end, in some confined entirely to it and in others distributed over the whole egg. Sixteen eggs average 71.8 x 56.2 mm.: maxima 77.3 X 57.6 mm,; minima 66.3 x 52.7 mm. The birds breed principally in May and June but some lay as early as February.

Habits. This Serpent-Eagle is found both in forests and in the open country round them, spending most of the time soaring at an immense height, often invisible to human sight. Their own sight must be very marvellous, for a pair of these birds which I had tame, though unrestrained in any way, would recognise me as I walked or rode home, though they themselves were quite out of sight. The first notice I had of their presence was the loud screaming cry, commencing with two or three loud " kok-koks " and then specks would appear in sight high above me, gradually enlarging as they sailed down in wide circles to within a few feet of me, or actually alighted on my shoulder. They feed much on snakes and will attack those of great size. The rat-snake, even when as big as 7 or 8 feet, are tackled and killed with ease and they seem to destroy poisonous snakes with as little fear as the harmless ones. When no snakes are to be found they will eat reptiles, birds of all kind up to the size of the largest pheasants, partridges and ducks and also grubs and the larger insects.

* I have not seen any specimen of S. klossi but from the description can find no character which could be used to define it as a species from S. cheela.

The Pale Andaman Serpent-Eagle.

Spilornis davisoni Hume, Str. Feath., i, p. 307 (1873) (South Andamans) Spilornis cheela. Blanf. & Oates, iii, p. 357 (part.).

Vernacular names. None recorded.

Description. Very similar to S. c. spilogaster but somewhat browner above with less purple tinge; the breast is generally more distinctly barred.

Colours of soft parts as in the other races.

Measurements. Wing 374 to 407 mm.; culmen 37 to 41 mm.

Distribution. Andaman Islands.

Nidification unknown.

Habits, Hume and Davison say that the habits are exactly the same as those of the typical form.

The Great Nicobar Serpent-Eagle.

Spilornis klossi Richmond, Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus., xxv, pp. 304-5 (1902) (Great Nicobar).

Vernacular names. None recorded.

Description. " General colour above... drab with a slight coppery sheen and some of the feathers with narrow white tips ; nape and sides of the neck Isabella colour; top of head black, the longer feathers with narrow tips of Isabella colour; ear-coverts, cheeks and malar region clear smoke-grey; throat buffy-white with an indistinct median stripe of smoke-grey ; breast buffy wood-brown, paler on abdomen, sides, thighs and under tail-coverts; lesser and middle wing-coverts dark drab, prominently edged with white; primaries black with two dusky bars, one only on the outer primary; tail with two pale bars."

Colours of soft parts. " Iris yellow; cere, base of bill and naked skin on sides of head yellow; bill, tip black, middle bluish

Measurements. "Wing 257 mm.; tail 165 mm.; tarsus 75 mm.; culmen 33 mm."

Immature birds "have buffy tips to the feathers of head, back and wing-coverts; the tail has three bars instead of two." (Taken from original descriptions by Richmond.)

Distribution. Great Nicobar.

Nidification, Unknown.

Habits. Richmond records that the stomachs of the birds obtained by Kloss contained the remains of lizards, rats, a small bird and an Emerald Dove.

The Nicobar Serpent-Eagle.

Spilornis minimus Hume, Stv. Feath., i, p. 464 (1873) (Camorta, Nicobars); Blanf. & Oates, iii, p. 361.

Vernacular names. None recorded.

Description. This is the smallest and palest oE all forms of Spilornis cheela except the next. The upper parts are paler grey or brown; the breast is greyish-brown and unbarred in old birds, the chin and throat the same colour as the breast. The apical black band on the primaries is short, under two inches in breadth.

Colours of soft parts. Iris yellow ; bill light blue, dark horny at the tip; cere, gape and orbital skin bright yellow; legs and feet yellow.

Measurements. Wing 286 to 290 mm.; tail 191 to 192 mm.; tarsus about 75 to 77 mm.; culmen 35 to 37 mm.

Distribution. Nicobars ; Camorta and Nancowry Islands. Nidification unknown.

Habits. Those of the species. Davison records that this lit tie Eagle was very wild and shy and was only found in forest near rivers, etc. and that it did not frequent the shores and openings.

The Chinese Serpent-Eagle.

Spilornis cheela ricketti Sclater, Bull. B. O. C., xl, p. 37 (1919) (Yamakan, Fokien). Spilornis cheela. Blanf. & Oates, iii, p. 357.

Vernacular names. Doun-zoon (Burmese).

Description. Differs from S. c. cheela in having both upper and lower parts rather paler, the back being a paler ashy-brown with a purple-brown gloss ; the cheeks are grey and the chin and throat never black but either grey or brown, concolorous with the breast; the spots on the abdomen are very white and conspicuous but the adjoining dark markings paler and less conspicuous than in cheela ; the terminal black primary band is dark, as in that race.

Colours of soft parts as in the other races.

Measurements. Wing 455 to 490 mm.; culmen 41 to 45 mm.

Distribution. South China from Amoy to North-East Burma.

Nidification. Nothing recorded.

Habits. Those of the species.

The Ceylon Serpent-Eagle.

Haematornis spilogaster Blyth, J. A. S. B., xxi, p. 351 (1852) (Ceylon). Spilornis cheela. Blanf. & Oates, iii, p. 357 (part.).

Vernacular names. Rajaliya (Cing.); Kalumbien (Tam., Ceylon).

Description. Smaller than any of the preceding forms; upper parts brown but with a stronger purple-grey tinge than in any of the Northern forms; throat very grey; breast browner than in the other races and immaculate ; remainder of lower parts browner and less rufescent than in S. c. cheela, darker than in ricketti or burmanicus.

Colours of soft parts as in the other races.

Measurements. Wing 355 to 402 mm.; culmen 38 to 45 mm.

Distribution. Ceylon and South Travancore. According to Stewart this small form is resident in the wetter evergreen forests at the lowest elevations and sea-level, whereas albidus is confined to the higher and dryer ranges where the forest is almost deciduous. A very small specimen from Khandesh, with a wing of 394 mm., seems to be nearest this race and is probably only a non-breeding wanderer so far north.

Nidification. Stewart took many of the nests of this bird in South Travancore, though he at first attributed them to S. c. albidus and the larger eggs which he took in the plains to S. c. cheela. The mistake was rectified by Kirke-Swann, who examined the skins. Nests and eggs are like those of the other forms but three eggs taken by Phillips in Ceylon are of a beautiful type very uncommon in the other races. The ground is white and the eggs are well-marked with small blotches of purple-red with secondary markings of lavender-grey. Twenty-two eggs average 62.8 x 49.4 mm.: maxima 65.5 x 47.2 and 64.7 X 51.0 mm.; minima 59.3 x 49.0 and 65.5 x 47.2 mm. Stewart remarks that this bird breeds in far denser forest than does S. c. albidus and whilst that bird nearly always makes its nest on a tree near water, the Ceylon Serpent-Eagle builds on trees far away from it.

Habits. Similar to those of the other races. In Travancore this bird keeps invariably to the hills, never breeding below 500 feet and generally at about 2,000 feet. It is found in Ceylon over the greater part of the island and is common in many parts. It feeds on snakes but also very often on bull-frogs, gliding on to these from a perch in a deeply-shaded tree and, though its nest may be far from water, its daily hunting look-out is of necessity over some pool, lake or river.

Haematornis cheela cheela Latham.

 

Falco cheela Latham, Index Orn., vol. i, p. 14, 1790: India— Lucknow.

Haematornis undulatus Gould, Century of Birds, pl. i, 1831.

Circaetus nipalensis Hodg., Asiat. Res., vol. xviii, pt. 2, p. 17, 1833: Nepal.

Buteo melanotus Jerdon, Madr. Jour. Lit. Sci., vol. xiii, p. 166, 1844.

Circaetus mithilensis, tarayensis, and maculatior Gray, Cat. Birds Nepal, p. 42, 1846, ex Hodgs., Zool. Misc., p. 81, 1844, nomina nuda, as synonym.

Spilornis davisoni Hume, Str. Feath., vol. i, p. 307, Feb. 1873 : Andamans.

Spilornis klossi Richmond, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. xxv, p. 304, 1902 : Great Nicobars.

Spilornis minimus Hume, Str. Feath., vol. i, p. 464, 1873: Camorta, Nicobars.

Spilornis minor Hume, Nests & Eggs Ind. Birds, p. 42, 1873.

Falco albidus Temm. & Laug., Planch. Color. d'Ois., livr. 4, pl. xix., Nov. 1820: Pondicherry ; not Falco albidus Gmelin, 1788, p. 267.

Spilornis cheela ricketti Sclater, Bull. B. O. C., vol, xl, p. 37, 1919 : Fokien.

Haematornis cheela spilogaster Blyth, J. A. S. B., vol. xxi, p. 351, 1852: Ceylon.