186 The Booted Eagle and the Snake Eagle 
when engaged in circling aloft in quest of food; and in its flight 
when disturbed, as well as in the softness of its plumage, it much 
resembles the Buzzards. On several occasions when out with the 
Calpe Hunt in the Cork Woods during the winter months, I have 
seen one of these big birds, upon some horseman passing close 
to a tree in which it was sitting, reluctantly leave it and flap 
slowly to another tree, perhaps only 150 yards ahead, which it 
would in turn quit when again disturbed, only to seek yet another 
perch not far off. The most striking thing about this species is, 
without doubt, the great size and rich yellow colour of its irides 
which almost equal those of the Eagle Owl in their brilliancy. 
The resentful look in the big flashing eyes of a wounded Snake 
Eagle is a thing not easily forgotten. 
Some birds are very large I have seen a female which 
measured close upon 30 in. in length, and a span of whose wings 
was over 6 ft., yet this bird was under 4 lb. in weight, a good 
proof of the softness of their plumage, which causes them to bulk 
so large to the eye. They can at all times be easily distinguished 
from other large birds of prey by their long unfeathered tarsi. 
The species earned the name of Short-toed Eagle, by which it 
was known for years, from its remarkably small feet. Both foot 
and unfeathered tarsus are well adapted for seizing and holding 
securely the writhing reptiles upon which it preys. Its favourite 
food is the large Ocellated Lizard, as well as all sorts of snakes, 
and, as has been already said, the movements of this species, as 
well as of a host of other raptorial birds which seek their prey 
amid the teeming reptile life of southern Spain, are largely 
modified by the habits of the snakes, which are in turn influenced 
by the seasons and also by the weather. 
Living as I do from autumn to spring in successive winters 
in Andalucia I see much of the ways of the larger reptiles. As 
a rule both large lizards and snakes are but seldom seen during 
