638 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXVI. 



we have sometimes seen as many as fifty together, 

 sailing leisurely in a wide-spread flock, if such it can 

 be called, and coming from the West leaving individuals 

 at intervals along the line of march. These appear 

 to be all in the plumage of A. bifasciakt, and judging 

 from the few adults procurable here, they may almost 

 be called rare." 



Now if A. heliaca and A. bifasciafa were one and tht^ 

 same bird, there would be justification in calling the 

 Imperial Eagle one of our commonest birds, in the 

 winter at all events, which it is far from being. Of 

 course, Mr. Hume himself was not sure that they were 

 all phases of one and the same bird, but in the absence 

 of conclusive proof, he assumed that they -n^ere and 

 hence we have the habits of two species rather mixed 

 up, and in recording the finding of nests in the upper 

 Punjab, without describing in particular to which 

 phase the nest belonged, it leaves one wondering 

 whether by any chance, the nest of A. bifasciata has 

 been found in India after all. 



In over 20 years spent in the Himalayas I have never 

 once seen this bird after about ]\Iay, or before Sep- 

 tember, and unless some authentic case is recorded 

 of its doing so, will remain very sceptical about its 

 breeding in the hills, even though stragglers may 

 remain to do so in the plains. 



In my notes on the Golden Eagle, I have mentioned 

 that the Imperial and the Golden are evidently fre- 

 quently taken one for the other, and the Golden has 

 obviously been accredited with the ignoble habits of 

 the Imperial, and the Imperial received the name for 

 being a hunter, ^v^hich he never earned due to his like- 

 ness to his noble cousin. 



In the full adult plumage, the head of the Imperial 

 is very much lighter than that of a Golden at any 

 stage. "^ His flight too is that of a vulture, slow and 

 heavy, with ^v:ings spread in a straight line w^ith the 

 body. The tail too is shorter, or rather protrudes, 

 less'than that of the Golden. The AVings appear to be 

 broader. 



The Imperial is quite content to sit on a stump 

 or the top of a tree in an open plain, by the 

 hour, and AVait until some rat or lizard, or frog 

 makes its appearance, or some smaller and weaker 

 bird of prey than himself has the temerity to kill 

 something within the range of his keen vision. 

 Under these circumstances the Imperial bestirs him- 

 self. I have seen him in full pursuit of a hare but I 

 should not think he often succeeds in catching one. 

 As a robber he excels, as with the exception of Pal- 

 las's Fish Eagle, he is " top dog " in the plains, most 

 birds have to give up their spoils when the Imperial 

 arrives on the scene. 



The Imperial can easily be identified from the Golden 

 by his much shorter hind claw and tarsus, and a young 

 Imperial in the lineated plumage, from the Steppe 



