62 Mr. H. Saunders on the Birds of Southern Spain. 



young A. imperialis obtained from the nest in 1869, Lord Lil- 

 ford writes to me, " They are much as they were, and, though 

 they have moulted very clean, show no signs of the spotted 

 plumage which I have always thought was their second stage." 

 But I have no proof that A. inqjerialis is spotted in its second 

 stage ; and, again, diet and the absence of the blazing sun of 

 Andalucia may have affected, or at least retarded, the develop- 

 ment of what, in Spain, is probably the second year's plumage. 

 I believe that A. imperialis assumes a lighter plumage after 

 emerging from that of the first year, and gradually passes into 

 the full brown-black of the adult ; and as a proof of this, an 

 undisputed specimen now before me with a good deal of white 

 on the shoulders exhibits an orange-tawny breast richly streaked 

 with black, like that of an immature A. bonellii. And in further 

 corroboration I would observe that, with a high price put upon 

 any " tawny Eagle " shot from the nest, neither our Andalucian 

 collectors nor the veteran Manuel de la Torre, of Madrid, have 

 as yet succeeded in obtaining a single specimen in the act of 

 incubation. 



21. Aquila n.evia, 



I never obtained this species, which is of rare occurrence, espe- 

 cially in western Spain. Lord Lilford reminds me of a specimen 

 which once existed in the Museum of Seville, and I have a dim 

 recollection of one at Jerez ; but at any rate there is a fine example 

 in the spotted plumage in the Valencia Museum. 



22. Aquila BONELLII. "Aguila blancuzca," adult; ''Aguila 

 perdicera." 



The commonest rock-breeding Eagle in the country, descend- 

 ing to the marshes in winter. Its food appears to consist prin- 

 cipally of rabbits and, to judge from the feathers I found in a 

 nest with young, of Partridges, Quail, Sand-grouse, and Little 

 Bustard. The original lining of the nest is usually dry grass, 

 " esparto," in a word. The eggs, never more than two, often 

 but one, are almost colourless. 



23. Aquila PENNATA. " Aguilucho," " Aguila calzada." 

 This species, though generally distributed over the wooded 



portions of the country, is more abundant in the Castiles than 



