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Show 1871.] RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF INDIA. 687 Mr. Hume alludes to a "buffy stage"*, described from a bird in that plumage, which was shot by Mr. Brooks; but this has since been referred to the first stage of A. ncevioides. That the latter gentleman was fully convinced that in this light-coloured bird he had a rara avis will be seen from the concluding remarks made by Mr. H u m e when describing the Spotted Eaglef, as also from Mr. Brooks's letter to 'The Ibis,' where he says, "I am now sure that this pure buff-and-grey plumage is a perfect one, that of an adult bird, and that this Eagle is quite distinct from A. neevia," &c.% Mr. Brooks's supposition, however, as to maturity was a mistake, as a moulting specimen since obtained distinctly proves. 28 bis. AQUILA NCEVIOIDES, CUV. (The Tawny Eagle.) It is with no little pride that I am able to add two specimens of this rare and interesting Eagle to the few that have already been procured in this country. W e are indebted to the gentleman whose name has already appeared pretty frequently in these notes for having added this very fine bird to the Indian list. A brief history regarding the few examples as yet obtained in this country may not be out of place. The first specimen, a very pale buff bird, was shot by Mr. Brooks in the cold season of 1866-67; and this is the type of Mr. Hume's first stage of A. neevia. Subsequently Mr. Brooks procured seven, of which a moulting bird was shot in Pillibeet by Mr. Yeatman, making in all eight specimens. Two of these were exhibited by Dr. Tristram at this Society's Meeting in Jan. 1870 §, two are now in Mr. Hume's museum, and the remaining four are in Mr. Brooks's collection. On my arrival in India, m y earnest attention was given to this matter; and my labours have so far been crowned with success. To the above number I can add two birds, male and female, in a yellow-ochreous stage. M y first introduction to A. ncevioides is solely attributable to an accident: would that such mishaps were of more frequent occurrence! I had missed m y camp one morning, and was driving along the canal, when a yellow-looking Eagle rose from a dry grass bed and settled a little ahead of me, in the dense fringe of jungle trees which grow so luxuriantly along the canal-banks. M y second bird (the female), strange to say, was got very much in the same way. After m y first success I stuck to the canal, riding and driving frequently twenty miles a day along the banks, and getting every thing that could be expected, save and except A. ncevioides. I was just about to leave that part of the country in utter despair, when m y patience was again rewarded. On this occasion I actually drove under the babool tree where the bird was sitting. It was latish in the evening, and the rays of the setting sun made the Eagle have a golden-yellow appearance. From the little I have seen of this bird, and judging from the fact that all of those that have been procured were shot in the vicinity of j heels, there is * Rough Notes, pt. i. p. 164. -f Rough Notes, pt. i. p. 172. } Ibis for 1870, p. 290. § P. Z. S. 1870, p. 4. PROC. ZOOL. SOC-1871, No. XLIV. |