FALCONID^ 



CIRCAETUS 



325 



with white mottHng. la au intermediate stage the underparts are 

 brown much varied with white. The nestling is covered with 

 white down. 



Distribution. — This Harrier Eagle is apparently confined to 

 south and east Africa, though Gurney in his long discussion on the 

 relations of this species with the true G. cinereus gives references 

 to accounts of specimens from Senegal and Abyssinia. 



In South Africa at any rate the Black-breasted Harrier Eagle is 

 widely distributed throughout, as shown by the following recorded 

 localities : Cape Colony — Malmesbury, George, Beaufort West, 

 Albany and Bathurst divisions (Layard), Oudtshoorn (Victorin), 

 Kuruman (Gurney) ; plentiful in Natal (Woodward) ; Transvaal — 

 Potchefstroom in winter (Ayres) ; Ehodesia — Fort Chiquaqua 

 (Sowerby), Sahsbury (Marshall) ; Damaraland (Audersson). 



Fig. 109. — Circaetus i^ectoralis. 



Habits. — This bird is not very common in the Colony and is 

 found chiefly in mountainous districts where there is timber and 

 water. It is wild and somewhat shy and may be seen soaring at 

 a great height in the air. It is said to be destructive to lambs and 

 also preys on poultry, but there is no doubt that its food consists 

 chiefly of reptiles and frogs and especially of snakes. Ayres found 

 in the stomach of one killed by him in Natal the remains of a 

 poisonous snake, the Mamba {Dendraspis angusticeps) , which could 



