EAGLES AND HAWKS. 33 



clouded with red or brown. The larger species have 

 fewer eggs than the smaller. The young remain long 

 in the nest, and, when able to shift for themselves, are 

 driven off by their parents. The old birds generally 

 remain together in pairs through the winter, and, un- 

 less much disturbed, breed in the same spot for years. 

 Nothing general can be said as to the place of nestling ; 

 some breed in rocks, otbers on trees, or on the ground. 



They begin to moult early in the season, and the 

 change of plumage is always very gradual. In some 

 species new feathers are observed at all seasons, as is 

 the case more especially with the eagles, which in this 

 respect resemble the grous and some other birds. In 

 all, the young differ considerably in colour from the 

 old ; nor is it until the second, and in some cases the 

 fourth or fifth moult, that the characteristic plumage 

 of the adult is obtained. When the young have lon- 

 gitudinal spots on the breast, the old have them trans- 

 verse, but in some species the spots merely become 

 narrower ; and some which have longitudinal spots or 

 streaks when young, have narrow transverse bands 

 when old. The older the individual becomes, the light- 

 er or more grey are the colours, and the more do the 

 spots and streaks tend to become obliterated. The 

 females in some species resemble the males, but in 

 others differ greatly in colour. In size there is always 

 a greater or less difference between the sexes, the fe- 

 male being larger. When the sexes differ in colour, 

 the young of both resemble the females. 



There is no partial moult in any of our species, nor 

 any temporary growth of feathers on particular parts, 

 like the crests of cormorants. The feathers in being 



