EAGLES 55 



EAGLES. 



The next group is the Eagles, the first representative 

 of which is the powerful Black Eagle (Aquila verreaaxi), 

 called by the Boers the Dassievanger (dassie-catcher) 

 from its fondness for Bock-rabbits (Procavia capensis). 

 It is coal-black, with a snowy-white patch in the centre 

 of the back. It is a bird of the mountain regions, and 

 is fairly well distributed in South Africa, excepting 

 German South-West Africa and Bhodesia. 



This handsome bird preys on lambs and kids, and 

 even on sick sheep. It nests on high cliffs, building 

 a huge nest of sticks, and lays, during the month of 

 July, one or two eggs of a bluish-white colour, sparingly 

 blotched with red-brown. 



The Tawny Eagle (A. rapax) the Coo-vogel of the 

 Boers is reddish-brown above and. tawny brown below. 



Like its much larger congener, the Black Eagle, it will 

 kill and eat sheep and goats, and has also been observed 

 devouring carrion. It nests in trees, also during winter, 

 and its eggs resemble those of the foregoing species, 

 but are considerably smaller. 



The Brown Crested-Eagle (A. wahlbergii) is dark 

 sepia-brown in colour, and possesses a crest. This bird 

 is not uncommon in the Magaliesberg Range (Central 

 Transvaal). 



The African Hawk-Eagle (Eutolmaetus spilogaster) is 

 brownish-black above spotted with white ; under parts 

 white streaked with black. This Eagle is very 

 destructive to poultry. 



The Martial Eagle (E. bellicosus) is dark sepia above 

 and below, except the abdominal regions, which are 

 white spotted with brown. 



