Ornithology of the Matopo District. 203 



55. Hieraaetus wahlbergi. Brown Eagle. 

 Aquila wahlbergi Sund. ; Scl. iii. p. 296. 



Sind. ''ukozi/' also applied to other eagles and hawks. 



Somewhat uncommon, but I have met with it at the Dam 

 and close to Bedza, where I saw one which was beating, 

 Harrier-like, up a dry watercourse at sunset. ]t is also 

 sometimes to be found within the hills. 



56. Aquila verreauxi. Black Eagle. 



The Black Eagle has not been previously recorded from 

 Southern Rhodesia, but it is not particularly rare in the 

 Matopos. It is, however, decidedly local, and not, as a 

 rule, prone to wander far beyond the precincts of the hills. 

 On one occasion 1 saw an individual over cultivated lands 

 on the Rhodes Estate, but otherwise I have only met with 

 it away in the more remote ranges. Msbingili and Malamba 

 are favourite haunts, and in June 1912 I located an eyrie 

 (albeit inaccessible) on the former range, and there I used 

 to watch these magnificent birds for liours. Natives inform 

 me that rock-rabbits and klipspringers are the favourite 

 prey of this Eagle ; but, personally, I have never seen them 

 take buck to the nest, but always conies. I have seen them 

 catch rock-rabbits on " dwalas '' ; and once saw the male 

 Eagle leave its mate in the air, swoop down, swerve round 

 a huge rock, and positively dash into a wretched coney, 

 which was contentedly chewing bark in the uppermost 

 branches of an " umvimela " tree — the leaves of which are 

 the rock-rabbits' favourite food. The whole drama was so 

 sudden that one could hardly grasp what had happened 

 before the Eagle was returning to its mate. At a little 

 distance these Eagles appear to have white beaks in certain 

 lights, but the soft parts are really : iris tawny ; bill bluish- 

 horn ; cere and bare skin round the eyes light yellow ; 

 feet yellow. 



On August 23, I noticed the single young one on 

 the wing with its parents for the first time. Previous 

 to this, one or the other of the parents usually soared 

 round at a great height over the eyrie-site, or would remain 

 for hours perched at the very summit of the highest 



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