1984 THE DIURNAL BIRDS OF PREY 



best known is Bdnelli's hawk eagle (Nisaetus fasciatus), which is at the same time 

 one of the largest, the female measuring twenty-six inches in length, and thus 

 being somewhat more than two-thirds the size of the golden eagle. In general 

 color the adult bird (shown in the lower figure of our illustration) is dark brown 

 above, with some white about the head and in the region of the neck; the quills 

 are deep brown, with white mottlings on their inner webs, and the tail is ashy 

 brown, with a broad terminal band of dark brown, and several incomplete bars of 

 the same tint higher up. The axillaries are white, streaked with black, and the 

 under parts are white, with dark shaft stripes of variable breadth to the feathers, 

 passing on the flanks into arrowhead -like markings. The beak is black, with a 

 lighter base; the iris yellow, the cere dull yellow, and the foot whitish yellow. 

 In the young bird, as shown in the upper figure of our engraving, the general 

 color of the upper parts is brown, and that of the head, neck, and under parts 

 fawn, with distinct black shaft stripes to all the feathers. The range of this fine 

 eagle includes the regions lying on both sides of the Mediterranean, from whence it 

 extends eastward through Palestine and Syria to Arabia. In India, where it is 

 termed "mohrangi" (i. e. , peacock killer), it is generally only seen in hilly or 

 jungly districts, although it occasionally resorts to neighboring cultivated ground. 

 It is common in the Nilgiri hills of Madras, where its nests are often placed on 

 such precipitous cliffs as to be accessible only with the aid of a rope. Passing much 

 of its time on the wing, and invariably visiting certain spots within its beat at 

 almost the same hour day by day, this eagle may be seen when in repose perched 

 either on the summit of some tall tree, or on some rocky prominence. Its prey 

 consists of various game birds, ducks, herons, and other waterfowl, as well as 

 hares and small mammals; and it is said at times to carry off trained falcons that 

 are employed in hawking. It also occasionally kills peafowl, and is a great 

 marauder in poultry yards and dove cots. Jerdon says, in reference to its pigeon- 

 killing habits: "On the pigeons taking flight, one of the eagles pounced down from 

 a vast height on the flock, but directing its swoop rather under the pigeons than 

 directly at them. Its mate, watching the moment when, alarmed by the first swoop, 

 the pigeons rose in confusion, pounced unerringly on one of them and carried it off; 

 and the other eagle, having risen again, also made another, and, this time, a fatal 

 swoop." Nesting in the Nilgiris and Himalayas on rocky cliffs, in the plains of 

 India Bonelli's eagle more generally selects the tall clay banks of the larger rivers 

 on which to build, although instances are known of the nest being placed in trees. 

 In the plains of India the breeding season is in December and January, but is 

 delayed in the Himalayas till April and May. The nest is four to six feet in 

 diameter, and varies in height from a few inches to a couple of feet, its summit be- 

 ing always finished off level, with scarcely any central hollow. The eggs, two in 

 number, are oval in shape, and frequently unspotted, while they are at most but 

 faintly blotched with pale yellowish or reddish brown upon a grayish ground. 

 Bonelli's eagle is a common bird in Spain, and a pair breed regularly upon the rock 

 of Gibraltar. It is likewise fairly abundant in Palestine. 



The booted, or dwarf hawk eagle (N, pennatus} is a far smaller bird than the 

 last, and may be compared in size to a kite, the total length of the female being 



