30 FALCONID/E. 



trees of the forest. The nest is usually lined with roots, dry grass, heather, 

 moss, or other vegetable materials. The usual number of eggs is two, but some- 

 times three are found. They are usually of a dirty white colour and either richly 

 blotched and spotted or thickly mottled, streaked, and clouded with varying 

 shades of red or reddish brown. Some are pure white. The eggs according 

 to Mr. Hume are broad, very perfect ovals, slightly compressed towards one 

 end. Mr. Hewitson's figures of three eggs measure 3, X 2-35 inches ; 

 3-13 X 2-3; 2-95 X 2-35. 



Of the habits of this noble bird much has been written, to compile which would 

 take pages of print. In Central Asia it is said to be trained to kill antelopes, 

 foxes, &c., and to be held in much esteem by all the tribes. Its food consists 

 principally of sheep, lambs, rabbits, and such like small animals, but it does 

 not hesitate to attack larger game, fixing itself on the head of the victim and 

 flapping its wings in the animal's eyes ; the smaller animals it is said to seize 

 with one foot and drag the other on the ground. 



27. Aquila heliaca, Savign. Desc. Egyp. p. 459; Gould. B. Eur. 

 pi. 5; Gray, Gen. B. i. p. 13; Sharpe, Cat. Ace. p. 238; Murray, Vert. 

 Zool. Sind, p. 74. Aquila impsrialis, Cuv. Regne. Antm. i. p. 32.5 ; Gray, III. 

 Ind. Zool. ii. p. 28 ; Jerd. B. of Ind. i. p. 57, No. 27 ; Hume, Rough Notes, i. 

 p. 142; Stray Feathers, \. p. 157; Murray, Hdbk. Zool. fyc. Sind, p. 109. 

 Aquila mogilnik, StrickL Orn. Syn. p. 57 (S. G. Gmel.). Aquila bifasciata, 

 Saund. P. Z. S. 1871 The IMPERIAL EAGLE. 



Young. Above rather light brown, the back feathers mostly shaded down 

 the middle with ashy and on the margins with purplish ; all the feathers of the 

 upper surface pointed with buffy fawn colour, giving a spotted character to- the 

 plumage; head and neck tawny buff, the feathers with clear brown bases, 

 which show through more or less and impart a streaked appearance; the 

 plumes of the hind neck long and lanceolate, brown like the back, with tawny 

 streaks down the centre ; wing coverts brown, pointed with fulvous like the 

 back ; the greater and median coverts with broad buffy white terminal spots, 

 widening up the shafts of the feathers ; quills blackish ; the secondaries 

 rather browner, and broadly tipped with buffy white \ feathers of hinder back 

 and rump tawny fulvous, with dark brown lateral margins, spreading more over 

 the plumes of the latter part ; upper tail coverts buffy white, in strong contrast 

 to the tail, which is uniform brown, tipped with buffy white ; under surface of 

 tail light tawny fulvous, nearly uniform on the throat, abdomen, thighs, tarsus, 

 and under tail coverts ; the whole of the breast feathers laterally margined 

 with brown, producing a distinctly streaked appearance ; under wing coverts 

 rufous fawn colour, streaked with brown ; the lower series ashy brown, like the 

 inner lining of the wing. 



Adult Male. Blackish brown above, much lighter brown on the hinder part 

 of the back and on the upper tail coverts, which are mottled with white near 

 the base, and broadly tipped with the same ; many of the scapulars pure 



