24 



FALCONID.E. 



lighter in colour, the feathers of the upper part of the head 

 and neck lanceolate ; the primaries almost black ; under sur- 

 face of the body very little lighter in colour than the back ; 

 all the feathers white at the base ; legs, toes and claws as in 

 the young birds. 



The whole length twenty-seven and a half inches, the wing 

 from the anterior joint twentj'-three and a half inches ; the 

 fourth and fifth quill-feathers nearly equal in length, but the 

 fifth rather the longest in the wing. The wings when closed 

 reach to the end of the tail. 



According to Professor Schlegel, Aquila iirevia can be dis- 

 tinguished by its round and small nostrils from A. clanr/a, 

 in which they are wider and elliptical. The same high 

 authority also thinks that the white markings on the wings 

 are not indicative of age, but simply individual peculiarities, 

 adding, that an example in the Museum of Leyden, brought 

 up from the nest, and known to have moulted three times, 

 retained the spots with which it was originally adorned. — 

 Museum clcs Pays-Bas, Aquila, pp. 6, 7. 



■ty^' 



