3l6 SPOTTED EAGLE. 



to the west of the Dnieper, down to Bessarabia ; as well as to the 

 Caucasus. A larger form (wiiich slightly intrudes on this area) 

 occupies the forest-region to the eastward and southward as far as 

 the steppes ; beyond which it extends across Turkestan and Central 

 Asia to Northern China ; and to some parts of India, Persia and 

 Asia Minor. It nests in Turkey, the districts watered by and south 

 of the Danube, and suitable localities in Italy and the islands of the 

 Mediterranean ; also, sparingly, in North Africa. In the south of 

 Spain it is not common, but I frequently saw and heard it in the 

 Pyrenees ; in France and Belgium it is rare, except on the wooded 

 south-eastern frontier, towards Switzerland and Luxemburg. In 

 winter both races migrate entirely from their northern, and partially 

 from their southern haunts in Europe ; numbers ascending the Nile 

 valley to Abyssinia. As regards the adults, the only difference is 

 that of size ; an average male of the larger form being equal to a 

 female of the smaller, so that the races can only be separated on 

 dissection. In the young of the smaller form there is usually a 

 more defined bufifish patcli on the nape, but the pale spots of the 

 upper parts are limited to the secondaries and wing-coverts ; whereas 

 in the larger form these spots are also found on the scapulars and 

 rump. If entitled to specific distinction, Mr. J. H. Gurney refers 

 all the British examples which he has examined to the larger form, 

 the A. clanga of Pallas ; a name which has, unfortunately, been 

 freely applied by ornithologists, especially on the Continent, to a 

 larger and distinct species, the Steppe-Eagle, A. orientalis. 



The nest, almost invariably built in a tall tree, is a large flat 

 structure of sticks, with a slight lining of fresh twigs, leaves or 

 grass ; the eggs, laid early in May, and usually 2 but sometimes 

 3 in number, are greyish-white, streaked and often boldly blotched 

 with ruddy-brown and blood-red : average measurements 2*5 by 

 2' I in. Nests found on the ground in the Dobrudscha and 

 South Russia, and formerly ascribed to this species, prove to be 

 those of the Steppe-Eagle. The food consists largely of frogs ; 

 also of reptiles, grasshoppers, small birds and manimals. The 

 cry, loud and shrill, is repeatedly uttered in spring. 



The general colour of the adult is warm coffee-brown or greyish- 

 brown, according to the age of the feathers. The young bird is 

 dark purplish-brown, with pale edges to the upper feathers — as is 

 well shown in the cut — and ochreous streaks on the under parts. 

 Length of wing from 18 to 20 in. in the male; 19 to 22 in. in 

 the female. The nostril is round, not oval ; the legs, feathered to 

 the toes, are rather long and slender. 



