THE CHESTED HONEY BUZZARD. BIRDS. THE GOLDEN EAGLE. 



247 



The food of this bird consists of small mammalia, 

 birds, reptiles, and insects ; and in the summer and 

 autumn it appears to derive a great part of its nourish- 

 ment from the larvae of wasps, which it obtains by 

 digging out the nests, and breaking up the comb. A 

 specimen observed by Mr. Selby, near Twizel in North- 

 umberland, was seen " to rise from the situation of a 

 wasp's nest, which it had been attempting to excavate, 

 or, in fact, to a certain extent had accomplished ; and 

 the large hole which had been scraped showed that a 

 much greater power could be employed, and that the 

 bird possessed organs much better fitted to remove the 

 obstacles which generally concealed its prey, than a 

 superficial examination of its feet and legs would war- 

 rant us in ascribing to it. A few hours afterwards, the 

 task was found to be entirely completed ; the comb 

 torn out, and cleared from the immature young ; and 

 after-dissection proved that at this season (autumn) at 

 least, birds and mammalia formed no part of its food." 

 The larvae of wasps also seem to constitute the chief 

 food of the young. In fact, in most cases insects ap- 

 pear to have been the chief food of the specimens killed 

 in England ; the larvae of wasps and bees being mixed 

 with caterpillars, and beetles and their larvae ; in one 

 examined by White of Selborne, the stomach contained 

 the limbs of frogs and a great many grey slugs. These 

 birds have, however, been captured in traps baited with 

 young rabbits ; they have been seen to strike and carry 

 oif young pheasants ; and a specimen kept in confine- 

 ment killed and ate rats, as well as birds of considerable 

 size, with great ease and appetite. 



In a state of nature it is described as rather an inac- 

 tive bird, rarely flying, except from one tree to another, 

 and never rising to any great elevation ; on the ground 

 it runs with great rapidity, almost like a fowl. Its 

 nest is built in some high tree in a wood or forest, 

 and is composed of twigs, and lined with dead leaves. 

 The eggs, which vary from two to four in number, are 

 blotched over with two shades of orange-brown. 



THE CRESTED HONEY BUZZARD (Permis cristata) is 

 a native of the northern parts of India, where, however, 

 it does not appear to be common. Its head is fur- 



nished with a crest, which it is able to raise and depress 

 at pleasure. The flight of this species is slow, and its 

 general habits seem to resemble those of its European 

 relative. The stomach of a female shot by Mr. Jerdon 

 contained a soft green mass, which he supposed to be 

 the remains of half-digested caterpillars; that of a male 

 bird killed by the same gentleman contained a large 

 quantity of pure honey. Mr. Elliot also found in the 

 stomach of a specimen a mixture of ants, wax, and 

 honey; so that we may suppose the natural food of this 

 species to consist, partly at all events, of the last-men- 

 tioned substance, for which the European species is 

 also said to entertain a predilection. A second speci- 

 men examined by Mr. Elliot betrayed more predaceous 

 propensities ; its stomach contained the hair of a rat. 



THE ABYSSINIAN BUZZARD (Buteo augur) is an 

 exceedingly common bird in Abyssinia, where it is 

 regarded by the inhabitants as furnishing important 

 omens to those about setting forth on a journey. 

 According to Salt, the Abyssinians, on meeting one 

 of these birds at the commencement of a journey, 

 watch it very carefully, and draw good or bad omens 

 from its motions:" If it sit still with its breast towards 

 them until they have passed, it is a peculiarly good 

 sign ; and everything is expected to go well during the 

 course of the journey. If its back be turned towards 

 them, it is considered an unpropitious sign, but not 

 sufficiently so to create alarm; but if it should fly away 

 hastily on their approach, some of the most super- 

 stitious among them will immediately return back to 

 their homes, and wait till a more favourable oppor- 

 tunity for commencing their expedition occur." Dr. 

 Roth states that he never found anything but locusts 

 in its stomach ; but, according to Riippell, it feeds upon 

 small birds and bats, and pursues the latter chiefly 

 when roused from their retreats by the passage of 

 caravans or other large bodies of men, which it fre- 

 quently accompanies or precedes. To this circum- 

 stance Dr. Ruppell ascribes the belief in the faculty of 

 divination supposed to be possessed by this bird, as 

 above described, and which is expressed in its specific 



EAGLES. 



THE GOLDEN EAGLE (Aquilu clirysaetos), which is 

 certainly the finest British species of the group to 

 which the name of eagles is commonly applied, and 

 yields in size and majesty to few if any of his foreign 

 relatives, must first engage our attention. This mag- 

 nificent bird is found not only in Britain, and in all 

 the mountainous parts of the continent of Europe, but 

 also occurs in Asia as far to the east as Northern India, 

 in the north of Africa, and also in North America. Its 

 usual length is about three feet, and the wings spread 

 seven or eight feet when extended. The general colour 

 of the plumage is dark brown, with the belly and 

 thighs bay, and the quill feathers of the wings blackish. 

 The tail feathers are varied with two shades of brown ; 

 the beak is of a bluish horn colour, the cere and toes 



are yellow, and the claws black. The tarsi are 

 -clothed with feathers down to the root of the toes. 



In its structure the golden eagle exhibits the char- 

 acteristics of its tribe in the highest perfection. Its 

 beak is rather short, but exceedingly powerful, and 

 the upper mandible terminates in a strongly-hooked 

 and acute point ; but the sharp teeth which we shall 

 find in the true or nolle Falcons, on the margins of 

 the mandible, are here represented only by a slight 

 festoon. The feet are enormously strong, and the toes 

 armed with claws of great length and acuteness, curved 

 in such a manner that the grasp of the foot must 

 immediately bury them in the body of the prey. 



The flight of this bird, as might be expected from 

 its great length of wing, is most majestic and powerful, 



