334 PALCONIDJE. 



the base, the pale mottling being conspicuous on the inner second- 

 aries and scapulars ; tail with more or less distinct mottled bands 

 of pale brownish grey except near the end ; upper tail-coverts, 

 bend of wing, thigh-coverts, and under tail-coverts generally 

 rufous-brown. 



Young birds are glossy brownish black ; the crown and nape 

 more tawny; the basal two-thirds of the tail greyish white, all 

 body-feathers white at the base. The general tint varies from 

 black to brownish black, blotched in places with brown and whity 

 brown. There is, as usual in raptorial birds, a gradual change from 

 the young or ring-tail plumage to that of the adult. 



Bill dark horny ; irides hazel- brown ; cere and feet yellow. 



Length of male about 35 inches ; tail 13 ; wing 24-5. Length 

 of a female about 40 inches ; tail 14 ; wing 27'5 ; tarsus 4 ; bill 

 from gape to point straight 2'75. The toes and claws are very 

 large, the hind claw (not including the toe) measures from 2-5 to 

 3-5 round the curve. 



Distribution. Throughout Europe, Northern Africa, Northern 

 and Central Asia, and North America, chiefly about mountainous 

 districts. This Eagle breeds in the higher Himalayas, and 

 Mr. Hume thought he recognized it in the Sind hills and on the 

 Makran coast. Other reported Indian localities are probably due 

 to error. 



Habits, <$fc. The Grolden Eagle, though by no means the largest, 

 is one of the most powerful of predatory birds. It lives on 

 gallinaceous birds and on mammals, such as hares, lambs, kids, 

 fawns, &c., and it is said occasionally to attack even wolves, but 

 it does not disdain carrion. It is kept tame in Central Asia, and 

 employed to capture gazelles. It makes a large nest of dried 

 sticks, lined with grass, moss, or other plants, sometimes on rocks, 

 often on a tree, and lays usually two eggs, occasionally pure white, 

 more often blotched with rufous-brown, measuring about 2-87 

 by 2-25. 



1201. Aquila heliaca. The Imperial Eagle. 



Aquila heliaca, Sav. Descr. Egypte, p. 259, pi. 12 (1810) ; Sharpe, 

 Cat. B. M. i, p. 238; Stanford, Ibis, 1894, p. 283. 



Falco imperialis, Bechst. Orn. Taschenb. v. & f. Deutschl. iii, p. 553 

 (1812). 



Aquila imperialis, J. E. Gray, in Hardw. III. Ind. Zool. ii, pi. 28 ; 

 Blyth, Cat. p. 26 ; Horsf. $ M. Cat. i, p. 48 ; Jerdon, B. I. i. p. 57, 

 partim ; id. Ibis, 1871, p. 244; Brooks, Ibis, 1868, p. 349; Hume, 

 Rough Notes, p. 142; Anderson, P. Z. S. 1871, p. 682; Hume, 

 S. F. i, p. 157 ; St. John, Ibis, 1889, p. 152. 



Aquila crassipes, Hodgs. in Gray's Zool. Misc. p. 81 (1844), descr. 

 nulla ; Brooks, P. A. S. B. 1872, p. 64 ; id. P. Z. S. 1872, p. 503 ; 

 Anderson, ibid. p. 620. 



Aquila mogilnik *, apud Blyth, J. A. S. B. xv, p. 5 ; Gurney, Ibis, 



* I cannot identify the Imperial Eagle at any stage with S. GK Gmelin's 

 figure and description of Falco mogilnik (see ' Ibis,' 1894, p. 283). 



