THE BIRDS OF PREY OF THE PUi^JAB. 633 



There is a world of difference between the Golden 

 Eagle and the Imperial, and though the adult plumage 

 of the Imperial very closely resembles the Golden, their 

 flight is as the poles apart, and in the hand, the claws 

 of the latter alone are sufficient to set him apart from 

 every other bird of prey. The cxtraordinaiy part of it, 

 to me, is that Mr. Hume should have collected so many 

 Imperials from the hills around Kotgarh, as they are 

 very uncommon and only to be found in the spring 

 and autumn during their migrations to and from India. 

 The Imperial Eagles are said to breed in the Himala- 

 yas, but I cannot remember ever having even seen one 

 in any portion of the Himalayas, except as I have 

 already stated, in the spring and autumn. Col. Ward 

 wias of the same opinion., and in a letter to me said, in 

 over 20 years his collectors had never found a Golden 

 Eagle, in Kashmir. This proves to me conclusively 

 that the Golden Eagle is taken for the Imperial more 

 often than one imagines. It might be said that the 

 mistake is mine, and I have taken the Imperial for 

 the Golden, but the sjjecimens now in the Bombay 

 Natural Histoiy Society's museum, sent by me some 

 years ago, will prove that this is not so. I have reared 

 4 Golden Eagles, taken from the nest, and in each 

 ease the first plumage was the usual dark brown, 

 almost black, with the head and other markings as 

 given above. This would be the third or fourth year 

 markings of the Imperial, which is a more or less light 

 brown throughout in its lineated or first plumage. 



The flight of the Golden Eagle somewhat resembles 

 the BoneUi's eagle and also the Black Vultm-e, when 

 soaring, except that he holds his wings even further 

 back than either of them. 



The wings curve backward from his body, to a slight 

 degree, and very considerably upwards and the tips 

 of the primaries appear to be several inches above the 

 level of the body. The flight is light, graceful and 

 bold, and the tail protrudes well back from the line 

 of the tertiary quiUs. The only bird that the Golden 

 Eagle can actually be mistaken for on the wing, is the 

 Black Eagle, which has a very similar flight, and at 

 some distance looks very much alike in colom'ing, but 

 the Black Eagle is very rare in the haimts of the 

 Golden Eagle, and the flight though very similar, is 

 lighter than that of the latter. The Black Eagle has a 

 tremendous expanse of wing in proportion to the size 

 of his body and weight. 



A. chrysaetus has long been considered an enemy to 

 game and to be destroyed, as " vermin," on sight, 

 but the sooner this fallacy is dispelled the better will 

 it be for both the Eagle and the game. 



I do not mean to infer that he does not kill game, but 

 Avhat I do mean to point out, is, that he does more 

 good than harm in destroying other vermin. The pair 

 begin their preparations for the nest about March or 

 early April and from this time on, they seldom visit 



