210 Mr. J. H. Gurney's Notes on 



other that I greatly doubt its being desirable or^ indeed, 

 permissible to refer them all to the same subfamily. In 

 dealing with these groups I shall endeavour to allude to them 

 in what appears to me to be the most natural order of ar- 

 rangement, which, in the main, will be the same as that 

 adopted by Mr. Sharpe. 



The genus Gypa'etus, with which Mr. Sharpe commences 

 his series of Aquilinse, forms so remarkable and peculiar a 

 link between the Vultures of the Old World and the typical 

 Eagles, that I am strongly of opinion that it ought to be con- 

 sidered as forming of itself a distinct subfamily, and that it 

 should not be included in that of the Aquilinse, amongst 

 which it is comprised in Mr. Sharpe's volume. The account 

 there given of the two species of Gypaetus does not appear 

 to require any comment, except to remark that in the sum- 

 mary of the localities inhabited by G. barbatus, " Northern 

 Africa " ought to be substituted for " N.E. Africa," as the 

 mountains of Algeria are the main African stronghold of 

 the northern Lsemmergey er *. 



Mr. Sharpe very appositely arranges the genus Uroaetus 

 consecutively to that of Gypaetus ; for of all the true Eagles, 

 none so closely approaches the Lsemmergeyer as the Wedge- 

 tailed Eagle of Australia. From Uroaetus he proceeds, and in 

 this case also by a very natural sequence, to consider the most 

 typical of all the Eagles, those which form the genus Aquila. 



In treating of this genus Mr. Sharpe commences with A. 

 verreauxi, a species remarkable not only for its very peculiar 

 coloration, but also for its restricted geographical range ; Mr. 

 Sharpe defines this as "South Africa and North-east Africa;'"' 

 but, speaking more precisely, it may be said to be limited to 

 the mountainous districts of Abyssinia, and to similar loca- 

 lities lying to the south of the Orange River ; and, so far as I 

 am aware, it has never been observed in any of the interve- 

 ning countries, or in any other part of the African continent. 



Next in order to Aquila verreauxi, Mr. Sharpe arranges A. 

 chrysaetus, including under that name all those slightly vary- 



* I take this opportunity of calling attention to an interesting article 

 on this species in Lieut.-Ool. Prjevalsky's notes on the birds of Mongolia, 

 recently published in Rowley's 'Ornithological Miscellany,' pt. G, p. 137. 



