r.iiii> LiFi: !X riiH i)UAKE.\>'r,EK(i ^57 



rope, found a yoiino; Black Kaiile, wliicli lie took home 

 with him, as far as I know, it did well in captivity. The 

 birds returned to this nest again the following year, and 

 when 1 visited it, in September 11)15, it contained a 

 young- one, which was afterwards killed by Basutos. The 

 other pair was breeding in the Sanqebetu Valley about 

 ten miles from the Xatal-Basutoland border. There were 

 three nests here, two of them being old, and from sub- 

 sequent observations it is obvious that the birds keep 

 changing their quarters; although, as a rule, they will 

 return to the same nest year after year, after repairing it 

 thoroughly each season, and even when the young have 

 been hatched, the parents may often be seen carrying 

 sticks to their home, evidently keeping it in repair so 

 that when their precious offspring become older and more 

 restless they will not fall out. I was once misled by 

 seeing an eagle carrying sticks to the nest; I made sure 

 that the eggs had not been laid, but I found out a day or 

 two later that the nest contained an almost fully fledged 

 3'oung one. In the Sanqebetu Valley the Basuto herd 

 boys, by climbing to the top of the cliff, were able ta 

 get within stone's throw of the eagle's nest and they used 

 to destroy the young ones nearly every year, as the 

 old birds took off so many of their lambs. With a good 

 stout rope, I think that it might have been possible to get 

 the eggs from this nest, although it would be a very 

 difficult and hazardous undertaking. 



The eggs of the Black Eagle are laid in June or July; 

 as already mentioned, the nest found in the Little Tugela 

 contained eggs on the 1st June 1912, and a pair of eggs 

 in the Millar Collection, in the Durban Museum, were 

 taken on the IGth July, 1897, in the Swartberg Mountains 

 Cape Colony. These are described as being " ovate " in 

 form, the ground colour being pale cream, covered with 

 blotches and spots of reddish and purplish brown; they 

 measure 3.1 by 2.37, and 3 by 2.3S inches, respectively. 



