E AG 



same species ; and recently the fact has been demon- 

 strated by Selberg. 



THE IMPERIAL EAGLE (A. impcnaks}. This is a 

 large and powerful bird, though not so compact in its 

 form, or perhaps so strong in proportion to its size, as 

 the golden eagle. Still it is a long-winged eagle and 

 a mountaineer, and probably approaches nearer in all 

 its habits to the golden eagle than any other of the 

 race. They are, however, easily distinguished from 

 each other, both by the form of the body and the 

 colour. The imperial eaule is proportionally shorter 

 in the body, ami thicker, bearing nearly the same re- 

 lation to the others that the hawks do to the falcons ; 

 and being altogether a bird of more southerly climates, 

 and probably less enduring habits. The chief distinc- 

 tions in colour arc: the nostrils transverse, a large 

 patch of white on each shoulder, the tail black, barred 

 and waved with greyish, and the ground colour of 

 the female brownish yellow, rather pale, and broken 

 by brown spots ; the crown of the head and the nape 

 are furnished with pointed feathers of a dull rust 

 brown colour margined with lighter. The under part 

 of the belly is a yellowish rust colour, and the whole 

 plumage apparently less firm in its texture and cer- 

 tainly less decided in its colours. The white on the 

 scapulars, and the black and grey tail, instead of one 

 of different shades of brown, always suffice to distin- 

 guish this bird from the golden eagle, even when that 

 bird is immature, ranging the country in quest of a 

 mute and a home, and being the ring-tail of British 

 drscribers, and the common eagle (I'aigle commun) of 

 the French, of Buffon, and even of Cuvier. 



The imperial eagle is unknown in the British islands, 

 or in the mountains and woods of western Europe ; 

 neither is it very abundant even in the Alps, espe- 

 cially on the northern declivities of those mountains. 

 In the eastern Alps, in Hungary, in Dalmatia, and 

 so onward through Greece and Turkey, it is by no 

 means rare; and although its localities have not been 

 so clearly traced in Asia, it is probably to be met 

 with in all the wooded mountains of the western and 

 central parts of that continent, from Caucasus south- 

 ward, and eastward as far as the Himalaya. It is 

 also found in Egypt and in Barbary, though it pro- 

 bably does not extend southward across the desert o) 

 Sahara, the eagle of Guinea being apparently a differ- 

 ent species. 



Its habits are described as being a little different 

 from those of the golden eagle. Though found more 

 frequently in elevated places, it is not so decidedly a 

 bird of the mountain cliffs as the other ; neither does 

 it beat for its prey upon the naked pastures, or at such 

 a height in the air. The wooded hills are its most 

 usual haunts, though, from the length of its wings, it 

 is of course not a preyer in the close forests. The 

 nest is constructed indiscriminately on the ledges ol 

 woodland rocks, and in lofty trees, though the latter 

 are preferred where they are equally well situated for 

 the pastures. The eggs are three or four in number, 

 and of a dull white colour. The voice of this species 

 is represented as being more loud and clear than that 

 of any of the other eagles, owing, as is said, to the 

 more compact structure of the trachea. 



From the abundance of this species in Greece, anc 

 in the mountainous parts of Italy, especially Naples 

 and the island of Sicily, it is highly probable that this 

 and not the golden eagle, is " the bird of Jove," as 

 fabled by the ancients ; and certainly the representa- 

 t'ous which have come down to us from the Greeks 



L E. 857 



and Romans have the greatest resemblance to this 

 species. It appears indeed to be the eagle of painters 

 and sculptors all over Europe, and even in those parts 

 of it where the bird, in a state of nature, is altogether 

 mknown. Hence, in a historical point of view, the 

 mperial eagle is rather an interesting bird. As these 

 birds come into places which are rich at certain sea- 

 sons, and in which the greater abundance and variety 

 of animals probably meet with more casualties than 

 they do in those colder climates, for the endurance of 

 which the golden eagle is so well fitted, it is probable 

 ;hat they partake a little of the vulture character, and 

 ;ielp to clear away the carcases of animals, in the 

 death of which they have little or no concern. Their 

 young being rather more numerous than those of the 

 olden eagle, and equally voracious during the period 

 of their growth, the old birds have no small labour in 

 finding the necessary supply of food ; and the time 

 when they have young may be known by their fre- 

 quent appearance on the wing, and the diligence with 

 which they range over the pastures. These pastures 

 are, in general, more abundantly stocked than the pas- 

 tures of the golden eagle ; but as the vegetation is more 

 rank in the early part of the season, the prey is not 

 so easily discerned from a height in the sky. They 

 do not, indeed, fly so high as the others ; but they 

 have the eagle habit of stooping on their prey, and 

 not chasing it on the wing, or beating the bushes for 

 it on low flight. 



THE LITTLE, or SPOTTED EAGLE A. maculata. 

 This is a much smaller species than either the golden 

 or the imperial eagle, being one-third less in the linear 

 dimensions, and estimating animals as the cubes of 

 these, which is the proper way of comparing their 

 volumes, if not their strength, the little eagle is rather 

 less than equal to half the others in volume. It ap- 

 pears to form a sort of connecting link between the 

 eagles and buzzards ; and like the latter, and different 

 from the former, it has the tarsi elongated and slender. 

 Indeed, though the more eminent of the authorities 

 class it with the eagles, it appears to be more of a 

 buzzard in the greater number of its characters. 



It is a native of the mountain forests of the southern 

 parts of Europe, and very common in or near the 

 woods of the Apennines ; but it is rarely seen in the 

 central countries, and never in the north. It is also 

 found distributed over great part of Africa, and bears 

 so much resemblance to the little eagle of Senegal, 

 and that of the Cape, and even to some which are 

 found in the south-eastern peninsulas of Asia, and in 

 the Oriental islands, that a particular description of 

 them does not appear to be necessary. It appears, 

 indeed, that eagles are peculiarly subject to clirnatal 

 differences of colour, as even the golden eagle, which 

 is probably the most local of the whole, is sometimes 

 spotted with white. 



As this species is less powerful and also less ener- 

 getic than the larger land eagles, its prey is of a more 

 humble description. It does, of course, catch rabbits 

 and little birds, and occasionally a duck, especially a 

 young one ; but to these it adds mice, reptiles, and 

 some of the larger species of insects. The plumage 

 of the mature bird is brown, varying in depth of tint 

 both in the individual, with age, and in the sexes. 

 The tail is dusky or blackish, with bars of paler, and 

 the extremity reddish. The under parts, and lower 

 coverts of the tail, are bright brown ; the cere and 

 feet yellow, and the bill and claws' black. The imma- 

 ture birds have the coverts of the wings, and part of 



