Falco indicus Gmelin, Syst. Nat. (1788), 1, pt. 1, 264.
Butastur indicus Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1874), 1, 297;
Hand-List (1899), 1, 266; Oates, Cat. Birds' Eggs (1902), 2, 278;
McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 43.
Lim-bas', Manila and Lubang; tic-weé, in general; cu-yab', Calayan.
Balabac (Everett); Basilan (Steere Exp., McGregor); Batan
N. (Edmonds [24]); Bohol (Everett, Steere Exp.); Cagayancillo
(McGregor); Cagayan Sulu (Mearns); Calamianes (Bourns & Worcester,
McGregor); Calayan (McGregor); Cebu (Everett, Steere Exp., Bourns
& Worcester, McGregor); Cuyo (Meyer); Fuga (Whitehead); Guimaras
(Meyer); Lubang (McGregor); Luzon (Meyer, Everett, Steere Exp.,
Whitehead, McGregor); Masbate (Bourns & Worcester); Mindanao
(Steere, Koch & Schadenberg, Steere Exp., Goodfellow); Mindoro
(Everett, McGregor, Porter); Negros (Steere Exp., Bourns &
Worcester, Keay); Palawan (Everett, Whitehead, Platen, Bourns &
Worcester, White); Panay (Steere, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester);
Samar (Bourns & Worcester); Sibay (McGregor & Worcester); Siquijor
(Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester); Sulu (Bourns & Worcester);
Tawi Tawi (Bourns & Worcester); Verde (McGregor). Ussuri-land;
Japan; China to Malay Peninsula; Celebes.
"Adult.--Above brown, inclining to ashy on head and upper back, and
to rufous on lower back, rump, and upper tail-coverts, the latter of
which are plainly barred and broadly tipped with pure white; forehead
white; sides of face clear ashy gray; sides of neck ashy brown,
uniform with the interscapulary region; wing-coverts rufous-brown,
mottled with clearer rufous; primary-coverts rufous, externally
mottled and broadly tipped with black; quills rufous, narrowly tipped
with buffy white, primaries brown externally and toward their tips,
also barred with dark brown on their inner webs; the secondaries ashy
brown, inclining gradually to whity brown at their tips, washed with
rufous and barred with dark brown; the lower surface of the wing
creamy white on the inner webs of the quills, somewhat washed with
rufous; tail ashy brown, whity brown at tip and crossed with three
or four broad bars of blackish brown, the lower surface ashy white,
the bars showing more plainly, except on the outermost feather, where
they are obsolete; throat white, with a mesial line of ashy brown,
as well as two not very distinct moustachial streaks; upper breast
ashy brown, washed with rufous, the lower breast and abdomen barred
with white and rufous-brown, the latter bars decreasing toward the
vent and thighs, and totally absent on the under tail-coverts; under
wing-coverts with slight cross-markings of pale rufous. Bill leaden
black, yellow at base; cere and feet yellow; iris yellow. Length,
470; culmen, 33; wing, 333; tail, 201; tarsus, 61.
"Adult female.--Larger. Length, 470; wing, 345; tail, 213; tarsus, 62.
"Young.--Considerably different from the adult. Above dark brown,
the wing-coverts washed with rufous and tipped with dull white, the
greater ones with rufous or rufous-white spots on both webs, giving a
mottled appearance to these parts; forehead and eyebrow creamy white;
crown and hind neck brown, the feathers margined with creamy white,
giving a striped appearance, the latter also slightly washed with
rufous; sides of face ashy brown, streaked with darker brown, the
fore part of the cheeks white; under surface of body creamy buff,
the throat with a central blackish streak on the lower part; center of
chest streaked with dark brown, the breast with pale chestnut, becoming
spade-shaped spots on the flanks, but narrowing to small streaks on
the thighs, and disappearing altogether on the under tail-coverts,
which are creamy buff; under wing-coverts creamy buff, with a few
rufous-brown marks on the lower series, and bars of the same on the
axillars; upper tail-coverts brown, white at the base and at tip,
and having the outer margin also white; tail ashy brown, tipped
with pale rufous-brown and crossed with five bars of darker brown,
the subterminal one broader; quills dark brown, the secondaries paler,
the base of the inner web white, with remains of ashy bars on the inner
secondaries. Cere and feet yellow; bill black; iris yellow." (Sharpe.)
"Exceedingly common throughout the group. Most abundant about
scattering trees in open fields. Breeds." (Bourns and Worcester MS.)
The tic-wee buzzard is the commonest hawk in the Philippines and on
Calayan and Batan Islands it occurs in immense flocks during migration.
Genus HALIÆETUS Savigny, 1809.
Bill stout, culmen straight at base, then greatly curved, with a
long overhanging hook, edge sinuate; tail rounded, its feathers wide
and pointed; tarsus heavy, feathered for a short distance in front;
a row of large transverse plates in front, a row of large hexagonal
scales behind, sides covered with small hexagonal scales.