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when stooping down to jjick np the eggs, was invisible from below : no wonder 

 the bullets did not tonch the bird ! The nest consisted entirely of halfa-gr.ass, 

 and contained two richly marked, hard-set eggs. Thev measure 68 o x 55-5 

 and TO" x oTT mm., while one taken near Harnmam Meskoutiue measures 

 72'1 X 55'6 nun. 



In iSaT Tristram found the Golden Eagle nesting in nnmliers on the 

 terebinth trees in tlie dayats. We do not know how and when they disappeared, 

 but only thirteen years later Mr. Gurney, who passed through the dayats along the 

 same route, saw no Eagles at all. We are certain that none are nesting there 

 now — at least not along the nsnal roads and near Tilrhempt — for neither Mr. 

 Ratclitfe nor ourselves ever saw an Eagle or saw nests large enough for them. 



I-j4. Aquila rapax belisarius Lev. 



This very rare species inhabits the mountain forests of North Tunisia and 

 Algeria, and we have also received it from Mr. Uiggenbach, from the Moroccan 

 Atlas. 



Only once did we see a specimen, but that was not an unmixed pleasure. We 

 were waiting for an Arab keeper and boat at Ain Mokra, on the Lake of Fetzara, 

 when close to the station a Tawny Eagle sprang up before our feet while none of 

 us bad his gnn loaded. The bird was distinctly recognised, and had been feeding 

 on a domestic hen. Reports of its occurrence near Biskra are i)robably erroneous, 

 though it might be found in the forests of the Anres Mountains and stray to the 

 edge of the desert, notwithstanding that it is by no means a desert bird. 



loo. Eutolmaetus fasciatus fasciatus (Vieill.) 



(Bonelli's Eagle.) 



This species is probably by no means rare in Algeria, as we saw it near 

 Biskra, Tilatou, Batna, Guelma, and flammam Meskoutiue, and in the Gorge de 

 Chiffa ; but the only specimen we obtained was an adult female from Tilatou, near 

 El Kantara. Its iris was light brown with yellow veins, the bill blue-grey, dark 

 towards the tip, feet dull pale yellow. The claws of this Eagle ajijiear to be 

 comparatively more formidable than those of a Golden Eagle. 



156. Eutolmaetus peimatus (Gm.) 



The Booted Eagle is not rare in Algeria. We have seen it flying on the 

 outskirts of Algiers, near Constantine and Batna. Gn April 2*) we receiveil 

 a freshly skinned female at Laghouat, shot there two days before. It was not, 

 however, until we came to Hammam R'bira that we made the fidl acquaintance ol' 

 this very pretty Eagle. There we saw it almost every day, sailing high above tlie 

 pine-woods or dashing through the trees ; and sometimes, especially on a sunny 

 day in the early morning, a pair would jday in the air, screwing themselves high 

 up, then dropping down like a stone, and chasing each other. Their cry is a sliar]) 

 '' be be be " or '' be be be be," sometimes even tuore frequently repeated. When first 

 heard one does not think of an Eagle, but rather of a kind of Sandpijier. Two 

 nests stood on pine-trees {Finns halepensis) in the thick forest, close to the stems 

 of the trees. They were bnilt entirely of dead branches, laid out and decorated 

 with green jiine-twigs. A con])le of fresh eggs were taken on May 20, and tw<i 



