THE EAGLE-LIKE SUBFAMILY 1995 



the English coasts, and an immature example in .an exhausted 'condition was cap- 

 tured at Colchester in November, 1891. In general appearance the adult of this 

 species is very similar to the golden eagle in miniature. It is especially abundant 

 in Pomerania, and in Europe frequents wooded districts, sometimes building in low 

 blackthorn bushes, or even on the ground itself. In India, according to Mr. Hume, 

 this eagle is always found either in the neighborhood of swamps or where the 

 country has been irrigated; and he refers to the sudden immigration of a num- 

 ber of these birds into a district where irrigation works had been recently 

 opened. The same observer notes that this eagle generally sits in a slouching 

 kite-like fashion across a. branch, halfway up a tree; whereas, on the other hand, 

 the imperial and tawny eagles generally sit bolt upright at the very top of a tree, 

 and consequently cannot be seen by an observer immediately beneath. The spotted 

 eagle commonly nests in trees. 



Other species of the genus are the tawny eagle (A. rapax) of 



Africa, distinguished by the tawny hue of the immature plumage; 

 the slightly smaller but closely-allied Indian tawny eagle {A. vindhiana); the 

 small brown Wahlberg's eagle (A. wahlbergi) of Africa, distinguished by a slight 

 occipital crest; and the remarkable South- African vulturine eagle (A. verreauxi}, 

 which differs from all the rest in having the lower part of the beak and rump 

 white, the rest of the plumage being black. Remains of extinct eagles, some of 

 which probably belong to Nisaetus, while others may pertain to Aquila, occur in 

 the Miocene strata of France. The gigantic Harpagornis, from the superficial 

 deposits of New Zealand, was by far the largest representative of the whole family. 

 The wedge-tailed eagle ( Uroaetus audax) of Australia^ is a large 

 C P species generically separated from the true eagles by its regularly 



graduated wedge-shaped tail, in which, when closed, the middle pair 

 of feathers are far longer than the outer ones; whereas in the true eagles the differ- 

 ence in the length of the corresponding feathers is inappreciable. This fine eagle 

 attains a total of thirty-eight inches in the male, and has the general color of the 

 plumage black, with a yellow cere and feet. In young birds the general color is 

 rufous tawny. These birds are found both in the forests and on the open plains of 

 Australia and Tasmania, frequently soaring at a great height in circles, with no ap- 

 parent movement of the wings. The large nest is invariably placed in the fork of a 

 gum tree, sometimes at no great height from the ground. Carrion appears to be the 

 chief food of these eagles. 



The Accipitrines we have now to consider include the harpy eagles, 



buzzards, and their kin, forming the subfamily Buteonincz. While 

 agreeing with all the foregoing types in having the tibia considerably longer than 

 the metatarsus, they differ from them in that the posterior aspect of the metatarsal 

 segment of the leg is covered with large transverse plates instead of with small 

 reticulate scales. The largest members of this subfamily are the magnificent harpy 

 eagles, which, while rivaling the true eagles in size and strength, have the plated 

 metatarsus of the buzzards, and may be easily recognized by their long crests of 

 feathers. They are exclusively American, and are mainly confined to South and 

 Central America, although one of the species ranges into Mexico. Represented by 



