NISAETUS FASCIATUS. 43 
Bonelli's Eagle at some distance from Gibraltar. It was on 
some rocks where the previous spring they had had the good 
fortune to take two eggs. We found the nest built in a diffe- 
rent situation,, easily obtained by the aid of a rope, and very 
neatly built and lined with twigs and leaves of the cork-tree ; 
it contained two splendid eggs, beautifully marked with red 
streaks and spots, similar to those taken in 1873, and doubt- 
less laid by the same bird. I was informed that the latter 
nest was lined with leaves of the asphodel, and that the 
spoilers literally walked into the nest. I saw the situation 
myself j and it was certainly the easiest to reach that I know 
of, as they usually build on the face of steep cliffs. 
A nest which I found in 1874 contained only one egg, 
Avhich was addled ; but curiously enough the bird was sitting 
hard on this rotten egg, and I succeeded in shooting the 
female. This nest was in a hole, and only about 50 feet from 
the base of the steep cliff in which it was placed, and was 
lined with twigs and leaves of butcher^s broom {Ruscus acu- 
leatus). Not having enough rope to lower to the bottom of 
the rock, we had much trouble in getting this egg ; however, 
we sent for more rope and lowered it down from above, tying 
a sack full of stones to the end to prevent it lodging in the 
rock ; but after securing the object of our labours from below, 
we discovered that the roj)e, of which there was over 400 feet^ 
had become fixed in the rock about halfway up, and no power 
would move it. The idiotic Spaniard whom we had left at 
the top, when he found that he could not pull it up, flung it 
down without tying a stone to the end ; so it caught in several 
places ; and by way of finishing he came down to where we 
were sitting, and, after pulling violently at the lower end, 
suddenly let go, when of course the rope flew up and lodged 
in the rock out of reach ; so we had to leave it dangling about 
the cliff as a memorial or, rather, as a Spaniard remarked, 
" un serial de los locos Ingleses." 
The usual number of eggs of Bonelli's Eagle is two, and 
but rarely one ; the colour is generally white, and I have only 
seen a few marked with red and buff spots and streaks. 
At Gibraltar, Bonelli's Eagle may be often seen suspended. 
