88 Mr. Bree's ' Birds of Europe 



he has been here guilty of, and that what he declares to be " a 

 manifest absurdity " has been much increased by his own want 

 of attention. 



Respecting the Pale-chested Harrier (Strigiceps swainsonii, 

 Smith) we have no comments to offer ; and next we arrive, ac- 

 cording to Mr. Bree's arrangement, at the Eagles. 



Of the Imperial Eagle {Aquila mogilnik, Gmel.) w^e cannot 

 commend the figure. The head, neck and back are represented 

 of a colour far too light, and this spoils the contrast otherwise 

 afforded by the snowy scapularies. 



On Bonelli^s Eagle [Aquila fasciata, Vieill.) we have no re- 

 mark to make; and with regard to the Booted Eagle [Aquila 

 pennata, Gmel.), only to suggest that in the extract, though 

 correctly quoted, from Mr. Tristram^s ' Catalogue of Eggs col- 

 lected in Algeria in 1857,' that gentleman must surely have 

 intended exactly the contrary to what he wrote ; for in what way 

 an Eagle differs from a Buzzard " on the wing " we are at a loss 

 to imagine, though, " in repose,^' the long flat head of the former 

 is sufficiently unlike the short rounded one of the latter. 



The claim of the Tawny Eagle [Aquila ncevioides, Cuv.) to be 

 considered European rests at present solely upon a trophy of the 

 Russian war, an example having been obtained in the Crimea by 

 Captain Blakiston during its occupation by the Allied Armies. 

 Now though it is extremely probable that, where such large num- 

 bers of eagles were gathered together, this African and perhaps 

 (for we cannot, without some degree of hesitation, look upon the 

 Indian Aquila vindhiana of Franklin as exactly the same) Asiatic 

 species should appear among them, yet it is very desirable that 

 this specimen, now we believe in the Museum of the Royal 

 Artillery Institution at Woolwich, should be examined by some 

 experienced ornithologist. We understand that the species is 

 extremely common in the Atlas; and therefore its occasional 

 occurrence on the northern shores of the Mediterranean may 

 be expected. 



We rejoice to see Pallas's Eagle [Pontoa'etus leucoryphus, Pall.) 

 done justice to, as it is by our author ; but it is unfortunate 

 that he has not given us a figure from a European specimen, or 

 at least from one not Indian. The late Mr. II. E. Strickland's col- 



