i6o Allen's naturalist's uhrary. 



Adult Male. — General colour above and below dark chocolate- 

 brown, almost black. The wing-coverts rather lighter brown, 

 and the hinder crown and nape inclining to sandy-buff; quills 

 and tail almost uniform brown, the latter with a few greyish 

 mottlings or indications of bars in old individuals. Total 

 length, 26-5 inches; culmen, 2*4; wing, 20-5; tail, lo'S ; tar- 

 sus, 3-9. 



Adult Female.— Similar to the male, but larger. Total length, 

 29 inches; wing, 21-5 ; tail, ir8; tarsus, 4*2. 



Young Birds. — Of a purplish-brown colour ; wing-coverts like 

 the back, the median coverts with a few longitudinal streaks of 

 dull white, which become much larger and take the form of 

 oval spots on the greater and primary-coverts, as well as on the 

 tips of the scapulars ; the quills blackish, the secondaries 

 rather browner, with faint bars of black, and oval white spots 

 at the tips like the scapulars ; lower back and rump with dis- 

 tinct triangular spots of ochraceous-buff, the upper tail-coverts 

 almost uniform buffy-white ; tail-feathers blackish, browner 

 towards their ends, which are tipped with whity-brown, the 

 feathers crossed with three or four bars of blackish-brown near 

 the tips ; under surface of body blackish, browner on the chin, 

 the breast streaked with pale brown down the centre of the 

 feathers, the abdomen and feathers of the leg rather more 

 ochraceous; under tail-coverts ochraceous-buff; under wing- 

 coverts blackish, the axillaries rather browner ; greater under 

 wing-coverts ashy-brown, and white at the base like the prim- 

 ary-quihs. Total length, 26 inches; wing, 20; tail, lo'o ; tar- 

 sus, 3-9. 



Characters. — An adult Spotted Eagle can always be told from 

 an adult Golden Eagle by its smaller size, and by its tail being 

 uniform below. This character will also distinguish the young 

 birds of the two species, the Golden Eagle having the base of 

 the tail white, and showing none of the large spots on the 

 wings, from which the Spotted Eagle has derived its popular 

 name. 



Eange in Great Britain. — A rare and occasional visitant, occur- 

 ring apparently only in late autumn and winter. Two were 

 obtained near Youghal in Ireland in January 1845. Two 

 more have been shot in Cornwall in December i860 and 



