1980 THE DIURNAL BIRDS OF PREY 



present bird at once serves to mark its distinctness from the members of the next 

 genus. The nostrils are circular, the beak short, and the metatarsi of considerable 

 length, with short feathers. In point of size the African crested eagle is somewhat 

 inferior to the red kite, the total length of the female being twenty-one inches. The 

 general color of the plumage is chocolate brown, with some of the feathers on the 

 back and wing coverts paler and the head darker, with a black crest. The forehead 

 and legs are whitish, and there are a few white spots on the upper tail coverts, while 

 the under wing coverts are also mostly white. The tail has dark bars. The bill is 

 bluish with a black tip, the cere and feet are yellow, and the claws black. This 

 eagle is one of the most widely distributed of African Accipitrines, ranging all over 

 that continent, from the Cape to the Red Sea, wherever there are wooded districts. 

 It frequents mountains and plains alike, and is even represented in such of the open 

 regions as have patches of mimosa- jungle, more especially on the river banks. In 

 the wooded parts of the upper Nile it is especially common, where it may be seen 

 sitting placidly among the branches of a mimosa, not far removed from the main 

 stem. From this coign of vantage it watches for its prey, swooping down like light- 

 ning upon any mouse, rat, ground squirrel, or dove, or other small bird that may 

 come within its range. In its general habits it is very similar to the crested eagles, 

 and, for its size, is one of the most powerful and active of the Accipitrines. In ad- 

 dition to small mammals and birds, it consumes numbers of lizards and snakes, and 

 also eats fish and frogs, while, when hard pressed, it will resort to carrion. It has 

 been seen perched on a branch in the neighborhood of a slaughterhouse, watching 

 its opportunity to feast on the offal or to seize a bone. Little is known of its breed- 

 ing habits, although it is said to nest in trees, and lay two nearly round eggs, of a 

 pale ground color blotched with reddish brown. 



C t d E 1 There is a difference of opinion among ornithologists as to the best 

 English name to be applied to the members of the present genus, some 

 terming them hawk eagles, while" by others they are designated crested eagles. In 

 the British Museum the latter designation is adopted, and the term hawk eagles 

 applied to the members of the genus Nisaetus, and it is this ruling which is followed 

 here. These eagles are readily distinguished by the crest (occasionally absent) 

 being very much smaller than in the African crested eagle, and by their shorter 

 wings. The beak is short, sharply curved at the tip, and with a prominent festoon; 

 the toes are large, and very unequal, and the claws strong and much curved. The 

 genus is represented by a considerable number of species, and has a very wide geo- 

 graphical distribution. It is spread all over Africa, the Indian and Malayan re- 

 gions, Celebes, Japan, and Formosa, and it is found in Central and South America, 

 exclusive of the extreme south. 



The species shown on the next page (Spizaetus bellicosus) is from South Africa, 

 and is one of the largest members of the genus, the total length of the female being 

 thirty-one inches. It belongs to a group in which the chest is uniformly colored, 

 and is distinguished from some of its allies by the barred tail. In the immature 

 bird, of which our figure is an example, the general color of the upper parts is pale 

 brown, with white margins to the feathers of the back; the feathers of the head 

 and neck are white, with a terminal spot of brown; the greater and primary wing 



