432 MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 



It was long a matter of dispute whether Aquila pennata 

 (the Booted Eagle) ought to be separated from Aquila minuta 

 (the Pygmy Eagle) or not. Brehm persistently adhered to 

 the view that they should be divided into two species, and 

 many naturalists agreed with him. In the first edition 

 of his ( Thierleben ' one may still read of the two species. 

 In the second edition there is only one Pygmy Eagle, the 

 two species having been fused. Until recently I also was 

 impressed with the idea that they should be separated, and 

 held firmly to that conviction. The observations, however, 

 which I have had opportunities of making have taught me 

 to know better. 



The Pygmy Eagle varies considerably in size, but what 

 raptorial bird does not? If new species were to be made 

 according to relative sizes, more ornithologists, especially the 

 learned gentlemen who have to do with museums and collec- 

 tions, would have the opportunities they so greatly desire of 

 splitting species, of giving new names, and of making out 

 that they have discovered new birds. One must go out into 

 the open, and study the ways and habits of a bird, in order 

 to form a proper conception of it, and there it will soon be 

 apparent how much its size and plumage may vary, but how 

 permanent are its habits. 



The first Pygmy Eagles which I had an opportunity of 

 observing were particularly small specimens, and I felt sure 

 that I had made the acquaintance of Aquila minuta. A little 

 later I killed a specimen quite exceptionally large, and was 

 convinced that I had before me the Booted Eagle (Aquila 

 pennata). I afterwards often saw eagles of this species at 

 home and abroad, stuffed and in skins, while a great many, 

 killed near Vienna, passed through my hands. The large 

 specimens I always took to be pennata, the small ones 

 minuta. 



It was not until 1880 that I had a chance of seeing and 



