Golden Eagle 209 



III. OTHER FALCONID.^. 



The rather large series of Kestrels and Sparrow-Hawks which 

 I have tabulated, together with the exactly similar condition under 

 which thev were obtained, enables one to advance, with some 

 conlidence, a statement as to the food they prey on in these selected 

 districts. 



With the remaining members of the Falconida^, of which I 

 ha\e skins, the case is quite different. My numbers are not large 

 enough for me to come to any definite conclusion as to the food of 

 the species. Some were collected in Suffolk and some in Scotland, 

 where the supplies obtainable were likely to be, or might easily be 

 of a very different nature. I think the notes on the Kestrel and 

 Sparrow-Hawk are reliable and thorough. For the rest of the family, 

 the notes do not profess to do any more than record the contents 

 of the crop and stomach of individual birds, and to give an 

 indication of the animals upon which they chiefly prey. They are 

 incomplete for lack of material, but such as the}' are, I have brought 

 them forward because I think direct dissection-notes rarely come 

 before the public, and for that reason possess some interest. Authors 

 commonly copy one from the other, and sometimes perpetuate 

 errors because they have not had the opportunity or the energy to 

 verif\' dissec ions for themselves. That's where Macgillivra\' stands 

 alone amon/^ our British ornithologists. liis work is little read at 

 the present day, and was a failure, commercially speaking, when 

 published, but it remains the most original, accurate and scientific 

 book on birds that has so far been produced. 



I have skins of the Common and Rough-legged Buzzard, Hen 

 and Montagu's Harriers, with fairly full dissection-notes. These 

 I propose to deal with seriatim, but, in the first place, I should like 

 to make a few observations on the Golden Eagle. 



Golden Eagle {Aquila chrvsaefus, Linn.). 



In Macgillivray's time, the White-tailed Eagle was common 

 enough in all the islands, and on many of the sea-girt cliffs on the 

 mainland of Scotland, while the Golden Eagle was scarce. Even 

 thirty years ago, ornithologists spoke of the rapidly-approaching 

 e>.termination of th;' Golden Eagle, and were quite easv in their 

 minds about the status of the White-tailed Eagle. To-day, as we 

 know, the White-tailed Eagle is very nearly extinct, possibly it is 

 extinct as a British breeding-species, and the Golden Eagle is 

 increasing, wherever suitable conditions, including, of course, 

 protection in the nesting season, present themselves. 



