NATURAL HISTORY OF SOUTH AFRICA 



melancholy, monotonous cry, which is often heard after sunset. 

 Its diet consists of mice and insects, such as beetles, large 

 moths, etc. Nothing comparatively is known of the nesting 

 habits of this bird. Nests have been found in tree stumps 

 and hollow trunks at Hankey, Eastern Cape Province. 



Martial Eagle {Eutohncetus beUicostis). (Vol. II., p. 151.) 

 Description. — Female : above dark sepia-brown, some of 

 the feathers edged with paler. Slight crest on head. Tail 

 similar in colour to back, with four or five ashy-grey cross bars. 

 Chest, neck,and flanks similar to back. Rest of under parts white, 

 spotted with brown. Under wing coverts dark brown, mottled 

 and tipped with white. Under tail ashy-grey with seven dark 

 bars. Iris yellow. Bill black. Feet yellowish-white. 



Lengthy 33.0 ; wing, 25.0 ; tail, 12.O. 



Young male : paler above. Crown and nape mottled 

 white and brown. Tail tipped and barred with white. Pure 

 white below, except for patches of brown on sides of chest and 

 humerus. Iris brown. Nestlings covered with white down. 



Distribution. — Widely distributed from Senegal and 

 Abyssinia, southwards to the Cape. Found throughout 

 South Africa, except Rhodesia. 



Habits. — This eagle is one of the most destructive of birds. 

 From the air it sweeps down on its prev with tremendous force, 

 driving its talons into its victims, and then carrying it off to 

 its nest or eerie. It preys chiefly on the smaller mammals, 

 such as hares and small buck. It is especially fond of young 

 goats and lambs, and thus proves very destructive to the stock 

 farmer. It usually builds its nest in a huge tree on the mountain 

 slope. The nest is a large structure of sticks, some 4 to 5 ft. 

 in diameter. It is lined very often with green leaves and 

 twigs. The clutch usually consists of 2 eggs, but sometimes 

 only I is laid. It is a chalky-white ground colour spotted 

 and blotched all over with reddish-brown, and measures 3.3 

 by 2.55. This eagle breeds chiefly from June to July. The 

 ground below the nest is always strewn with the bones and 

 skulls of the prey. 



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