104 BIRDS OF TUNISIA 



Observations. — The above description is taken from an unsexed and 

 unlabelled specimen in the Lilford collection, which corresponds well with 

 the description and plate given by Loche of Levaillant's Falco belisarius 

 (Expl. Scient. Alg. Ois. i, p. 24, pi. 2). 



In the same collection there is another similar example, also unlabelled, 

 and two others which are more tawny in coloration, one of which, obtained 

 in Spain, is no doubt referable to typical A. rapax, and the other, which is 

 rather smaller, to A. viiulhiana. 



A fifth specimen in the Lilford collection, labelled '^ A. cullencei, female, 

 E. Mus. C. N. Bree, M.D.," is of a larger size, and is marked somewhat 

 differently. 



The Tawny Eagle occurs throughout Africa generally, either in 

 its typical or in its pale form, while eastward it ranges as far as Pales- 

 tine, beyond which, in Asia, it is replaced by the closely-allied though 

 somewhat smaller A. vindhiana, Frank. 



In Europe this Eagle is of rare occurrence, though in Bulgaria, 

 according to Dr. W. H. Cullen, it is a permanent resident in the 

 neighbourhood of Kustendjie (Ibis, 1867, p. 247), and it was on a 

 specimen obtained by him as a nestling in that district, that Dr. 

 Bree bestowed the name of Aquila culleni (Bree, Birds of Eur., 2nd 

 Ed., i, p. 89). 



In Spain the species appears to have been met with occasionally, 

 and it has once or twice been obtained in the Island of Sardinia. 



In Algeria and Marocco the Tawny Eagle is not uncommon, and 

 Loche states that it is to be found in all three provinces of the former 

 country, while examples of it have been obtained from various parts of 

 the latter. Mr. C. Dixon appears to have observed the species near 

 Lambessa in Algeria. 



In Tunisia the species is not unfrequently to be met with in the 

 northern and more wooded parts of the Eegency, but apparently does 

 not occur south of the Atlas Mountains, where the country is arid 

 and, to a great extent, treeless. Baron v. Erlanger obtained specimens 

 of it, an adult bird and a nestling, in the Aleppo-pine woods near 

 Ain-Bou-Dries in the Atlas district, and observed it farther north in 

 the evergreen-oak forests near Camp de la Sante. Salviu appears to 

 have met with the species near Kef-Laks, and at Djendeli, and pro- 

 bably it occurs generally throughout the Atlas region. 



In its habits this Eagle is said to be sluggish, and though not 

 shy, is by no means bold or courageous, preying chiefly on small 



