326 FALCONIDiE CIRCAETUS 



not have been much less than 7 or 8 feet long ; other collectors 

 have met with the same experience. 



Layard found this bird breeding on the Berg river, building in 

 the top of dense bushes and laying a single pure white egg measur- 

 ing 3*1 X 2-4 ; Jackson sent similar eggs from Nelspoort in Beau- 

 fort West ; near Potchefstroom Ayres found nests in thorn trees, 

 also containing only a single egg. 



Mr. Marshall writes as follows : " This liae Eagle is relatively 

 common round Salisbury and two or three individuals may gener- 

 ally be observed within a few miles of the town during the summer. 

 It is a comparatively fearless bird, though generally managing to 

 keep just out of gun shot. It frequents open country especially in 

 the vicinity of water and searches its ground very thoroughly from 

 a considerable altitude ; it settles very frequently even on low trees 

 and will often haunt one particular spot for some little time. It is 

 interesting to see this large bird hovering just like a Kestrel far up 

 in the air ; it resembles a Kestrel also in the way it descends on its 

 prey, which is generally taken on the ground, its downward flight 

 being comparatively gentle, and not headlong like the magnificent 

 swoop of the Bateleur. Stomachs [^contained mice, snakes, lizards 

 and beetles." 



529. Circaetus fasciolatus. Banded Harrier Eagle. 



Circaetus fasciolatus, Gray, Cat. Accipitr. p. 18 (1848) (desc. 

 nulla) ; Qurney, Ibis, 1861, p. 130, 1862, p. 35, pi. 3 [Natal] ; Verr. 

 Sf des Murs, Ibis, 1862, p. 211 ; Gunieij, Ibis, 1868, p. 139 ; Sharpc, 

 Cat. B. M. i, p. 285 (1874) ; id. ed. Layard' s B. S. Afr. p. 45 (1875) ; 

 Gurncy, Ibis, 1878, p. 148; Shelley, B. Afr. i, p. 150 (1896); Wood- 

 ward Bros. Natal B. p. 147 (1899). 



Spilornis fasciolatus, Xrt»jj, Contrib. Oriiitli. 1850, p. 72. 



Description. — General colour above, brown ; below, throat and 

 chest light brown ; chin white ; rest of the underparts white banded 

 with brown ; tail yellowish-brown with four or five bands of dark 

 brown ; tip edged with white. 



Iris yellow ; bill black ; cere and legs yellow. 



Length 250 ; wing 14-6 ; tail 10-5 ; tarsus 3*4. 



Distribution. — This Harrier Eagle is a rare bird in South Africa ; 

 up till recently it was supposed to be confined to Natal whence 

 came the type, and a few other examples all obtained in the coast 

 districts by Ayres and others. Kecently, however, it has been 



