106 BIRDS OF TUNISIA 



the male so brown as to be verging on black ; tlie iris and beak are 

 different in each ; the remaining five specimens I got vary consider- 

 ably, none, however, being so dark or so light as the pair above 

 mentioned." The Abyssinian Tawny Eagle does not seem to differ 

 from typical A. rapax from South Africa in form or measurements, 

 but merely in coloration and marking. 



AQUILA CHRYSAETUS (Linnaus). 

 GOLDEN EAGLE. 



Falco chrysaetos, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 125 (1766). 



Aquila chrysaetus, Dumont, Did. Sci. Nat. i, p. 339 (1816) ; Sluirpe, 



Cat. Birds Brit. Mas. i, p. 235; Koenig, J. f. 0. 1892, p. 293; 



IVJiitaker, Ibis, 1894, p. 96 ; Erlanger, J. f. 0. 1898, p. 412. 

 Aquila chrysaetos, Malhcrbe, Cat. Bais. d'Ois. Alg. p. 5 (1846). 

 Falco fulvus, Malherhe, Cat. Rais. d'Ois. Alg. p. 5 (1846). 

 Aquila fulva, Lochc, E.xyl Sci. Alg. Ois. i, p. 18 (1867). 



Description. — Male, spring, from Oglet-Alima, South Tunisia. 



Head and nape tawny-buff ; remainder of the upper plumage generally 

 dark brown, paler on the wing-coverts, and darker on the primaries ; the 

 base of the tail mottled with white ; underparts browu, the white bases 

 of the feathers showing here and there ; feet feathered down to the toes. 



Iris hazel; bill dark slate, blackish at the tip; cere and feet bright 

 yellow. 



Total length 34 inches, wing 2350, culmen 2-40, tarsus 4-0. 



Female similar to the male, but rather larger. 



The Golden Eagle occurs throughout Tunisia generally, but is 

 perhaps more abundant in the north than in the south of the 

 Regency. Nowhere, however, can it be called at all common, and 

 it is unusual to find more than one pair of the species frequenting the 

 same mountain range during the breeding season. 



In Algeria the Golden Eagle is by no means uncommon, both 

 north and south of the Atlas. In some of the southern Dayats, 

 according to Canon Tristram, the species appears to be remarkably 

 numerous, and may almost be said to be gregarious, several pairs of 

 the birds being found frequenting the same Dayat, and apparently 

 living together in perfect harmony. Loche and Salvin both record 



