from the colony of Natal. 129 



One of these was trausmitted to Mr. Stevens by Mr. Gueinzius, 

 the other by Mr. HilUard. 



128. Aquila bellicosa (Daud.). Martial Eagle. 



Male. This Eagle was received from Mr. Gueinzius with the 

 following ticket attached to it : — " Iris pale brownish (pale-ale 

 colour) ; cere and toes lead-colour. Shot with a young goat in 

 his talons.^^ 



129. SpizAiETUS coRONATUs (Linn.). Crowned Eagle. 

 Female. Immature. Eye greyish brown ; bill black. This 



noble bird was shot in a very dense bush : it had killed a 

 monkey considerably larger than itself, and when discovered 

 did not appear at all shy, but on being disturbed merely flew 

 up on to the branches of a tree just above the monkey it had 

 killed, and there remained. 



Another Crowned Eagle subsequently visited our neighbour- 

 hood, which from its size must also have been a female. This 

 bird carried ofi" wdth ease one of my largest Cochin fowls, and 

 attempted to take away a small pig ; but failing in the effort, 

 proceeded to kill it on the spot, and would have done so in a 

 few minutes, had not the cries of the pig brought a lad to its 

 assistance, who with difficulty frightened the Eagle away. 



[This species is well figured in plates 40 and 41 of the 

 volume " Aves" of Sir A. Smith's ' Illustrations of the Zoology 

 of South Africa;' but plate no. 40, which is there stated to 

 represent an adult bird, does, in fact, give the figure of an 

 immature specimen, while plate no. 41, which is described as 

 representing an immature bird, is, in reality, a correct deli- 

 neation of the adult plumage. The sexes, which differ greatly 

 in size, are alike in plumage, both when immature and when 

 adult. The change from the earlier to the later state of 

 plumage is accompanied by a contemporaneous change of colour 

 in the iris, which passes from a pale brown to a clear yellow. 

 I am able to speak with certainty as to these changes, having 

 carefully observed them in two specimens in confinement. One 

 of these was a male bird from Senegal, which is still living in my 

 own collection ; the other a female from Sierra Leone, which died 

 recently in the gardens of the Zoological Society of London. 



