. Birds. Birds. SPiiiOBins. 359 chin and throat more or less tinged or streaked with black or ashy; fore-neck and upper breast, as a rule, closely barred with psie brown; lower breast and abdomen, flanks, under wing-coverts, and axiUaries 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 t
. Birds. Birds. SPiiiOBins. 359 chin and throat more or less tinged or streaked with black or ashy; fore-neck and upper breast, as a rule, closely barred with psie brown; lower breast and abdomen, flanks, under wing-coverts, and axiUaries 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 vidth white tips ; lower parts, iacluding the wing-Uning, white with dark shafts or shaft-stripes on the breast; the whitish bars on the wings and taU are more numerous than in adults, generally there are 2 well-marked pale bands on the tail beyond the Fig. 90.—Head of 8. cheela, f. As the bird grows older bars and ocelli appear on the lower parts. When nearly adult, there is still much white on the wing- Uning, and remains of the second pale tail-bar may often be traced even in fuU-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 hiUs. There are several weU-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
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