424 Mr. C. F. M. Swynnerton on the 



fowls, which were scratching away within a few yards 

 The scene reminded me of a common native tradition pro- 

 fessing to account for the relations between Kites and. Fowls. 

 The Kite, they say, formerly lived with the chickens in 

 perfect amity, till they lost a knife which he had entrusted 

 to their care. Ever since, the chickens have continued 

 scratching up the ground in their feverish endeavours to 

 find that knife, while the Kite has continued to make them 

 pay for losing it. 



222. Aquila wahlbergi. Wahlberg^s Eagle. 



Rh., P. On October 30th, 1906, I found a nest of this 

 Eagle near Chirinda placed about twenty-five feet from the 

 ground in the thick fork of a large Faurea saligna standing 

 close to a stream. It was a rough stick-structure 18 inches 

 wide by about 15 deep. Outside was a mass of dry Faurea- 

 twigs, supplied in abundance by the tree itself, which had 

 been scorched by the grass-fires about three months before ; 

 inside, or rather above, for the nest was flat and cupless, 

 was a dense layer, 3^ inches thick, of Fczwrea-leaves still 

 attached to the ends of the twigs, which had been just 

 coming into bud when picked. This indicated a considerable 

 lapse of time between the completion of the nest and the 

 laying of the egg, as the tree was in full bloom. The egg, 

 which was quite fresh, was dirty brownish white in ground- 

 colour, thickly freckled with rather light reddish brown, and 

 clouded, chiefly on one side, with richer reddish, perhaps 

 from a blood-smear. An egg which I took near Salisbury 

 on November 12th, 1898, was very different, the ground 

 colour being dirty white, with large pale blotches and 

 freckles of pale brown and fainter blotches of brownish grey. 

 The nest was very much the same in construction and was 

 also placed about twenty-three feet from the ground in the 

 fork of a large Brachystegia growing beside a river. The 

 eggs measured 60 mm. each in length, by 46 and 47*7 mm. 

 in breadth. The iris of my Mashonaland female was umber. 

 The feet, cere, gape, and base of the lower mandible were 

 of a rather bright Naples yellow, the last three slightly 



