396 FALCON AND EAGLE GROUP 



until they become complcteh' bewildered. Although in the British 

 Isles eagles nearK- always place their " eyries " on well-nigh inaccessible 

 cliffs, and but rarel)' resort to trees for breeding, in India trees are as 

 commonly selected as rocks to serve as nesting-sites. The nest itself 

 is a huge structure of sticks, lined with grass, bracken, moss, or other 

 material, which is employed by the same pair of birds year after \-ear 

 and undergoes an annual renovation. When on a cliff, there is 

 generally a large platform or shelf of rock near b}- which serves the 

 purpose of a larder. It is generally stated that the two, or sometimes 

 three, eggs arc hatched in Scotland about the end of April, but two 

 clutches in the collection of the British Museum were respectively 

 taken so late as May 13 and 14. Although occasionally pure w^hite, 

 the eggs, which measure just under 3 inches in length by 2J in width, 

 are more or less thickly blotched with rusty brown. 



A golden eagle that died in Vienna in 17 19 is stated to have 

 passed one hundred and four years in captivity. 



The large spotted eagle {Aqiiila niacnlata, also known as Aqiiila 

 ncKvid) can scarcely be regarded as worthy a definite place in the 

 list of British birds, since only half-a-score of examples appear to have 

 been recorded within our limits. The species, as now restricted, is a 

 native of central and southern Europe, and is of smaller size than the 

 golden eagle, the female measuring about 23 inches in length, and 

 the male 3 inches less. When adult, the colour is dark chocolate- 

 brown, approaching black, but the wing-coverts and nape of the neck 

 are lighter, inclining to buff. In immature birds the general colour 

 is purplish brown, with triangular buff spots on the wing-coverts and 

 lower part of the back. Seven English examples are recorded, viz., 

 one from Lundy Island in 1858, two from Cornwall in i860 and 

 I 86 1, one in Hampshire in 1861, two in Essex in 1891, and one in 

 Sussex in the same year. Two specimens taken from Cork in 1845 

 appear to constitute the Irish list, as two alleged earlier instances are 

 not admitted as valid in the latest work on tjie birds of Ireland. 



Still briefer reference will suffice for such stragglers of the vulture 

 group (Vulturidcx) as have been recorded from the British Islands. 

 The first of these is a specimen of the griffon-vulture {Gyps fulvus) 

 taken in Cork Harbour in 1843. The other three belong to the 

 Egyptian scavenger- vulture {Ncophrou perciioptcrus), two of these 

 having occurred in Somersetshire in 1825, and the third in h2ssex 

 in 1868. 



