THE SPOTTED EAGLE. BIRDS. THE WEDGE-TAILED EAGLE. 



249 



parents. These birds are said to be very long-lived, 

 and one of them is recorded to have died at Vienna 

 after passing no less than one hundred and four years 

 in confinement. Their cry is a loud sharp scream. 

 They generally retain their ferocity even after long 

 captivity, seldom even showing any affection for the 

 person who feeds them ; but notwithstanding this and 

 the general character for intractability which has been 

 founded Tipon it, instances are on record of the recla- 

 mation of the Golden eagle, even so far as to enable 

 him to be used for the purposes of falconry. At the 

 same time his temper seems to be rather uncertain, and 

 he is by no means so desirable a favourite as the true 

 falcons. 



The Golden eagle, like the lammergeyer, has been 

 accused of sometimes carrying off young children to its 

 nest, but as far as we are aware, none of these stories 

 have been fully authenticated. Another popular notion, 

 which is doubtless in some measure connected with the 

 supposed regal nature of the bird, namely, that he will 

 feed on nothing that he has not himself killed, is cer- 

 tainly destitute of foundation; the eagle, when he pays 

 an occasional visit to the shore, will feed freely upon 

 dead fish, and at other times, especially in winter, he 

 does not disdain carrion. Mr. M'Gillivray states that 

 he had seen several eagles hovering over a dead sheep, 

 and in the Scotch islands they are often lured to their 

 destruction by the exposure of the carcases of animals, 

 in the vicinity of a pit or other shelter in which the 

 gunner lies concealed. 



THE SPOTTED EAGLE (Aqut'la ncevia) is another 

 European species, of which specimens have been killed 

 in Britain. It is an inhabitant of the mountainous dis- 

 tricts of central Europe, but extends its range south- 

 ward into Egypt; it also occurs in Asia as far as 

 Nepaul and Calcutta. It is considerably smaller than 

 the golden eagle, being about the size of a large cock ; 

 its general colour is brown, but the feathers of the legs 

 and sides are spotted with white, and the quill feathers 

 of the wings are terminated by whitish tips. It feeds 

 on small quadrupeds and birds, and builds its nest on 

 high trees, laying two eggs, slightly blotched with red. 



BONELLTS EAGLE (Aquila Bonellii) an inhabitant 

 of Southern Europe, is also found in Asia as far as 

 India, where, however, it appears to be a rare bird. It 

 is not common in Europe, where it lives in the marshy 

 forests of Sardinia, Sicily, and the south of France. It 

 feeds principally upon birds, and is said to be especially 

 fond of ducks. In India it also inhabits wooded and 

 jungly districts, sitting upon the high branches of trees 

 to look out for its prey, which consists of jungle-fowl, 

 partridges, and hares, and occasionally even the peacock 

 falls a victim to its talons. Sometimes this eagle takes 

 up its abode in the vicinity of the villages, when it 

 makes fearful havoc among the domestic poultry. 

 Mr. Jerdon gives the following account of the mode of 

 attack adopted by a pair of these birds which haimted 

 some pigeon-houses in the Neilgherries. He says, 

 " On the pigeons taking flight, one of the eagles pounced 

 down from a vast height on the flock, but directing its 

 swoop rather under the pigeons than directly at them. 

 Its mate, watching the moment when, alarmed by the 

 first swoop, the pigeons rise in confusion, pounces 

 VOL. I. 



unerringly on one of them, and carries it off. The 

 other eagle, having risen again, also makes another 

 stoop, which is generally fatal." The Indian falconers 

 also, according to the same authority, have generally 

 stories to relate of these eagles carrying off favourite 

 hawks. 



THE TAWNY EAGLE (Aquila ncevioidcs) is the 

 common eagle of India, where it is known as the 

 Wokhab. It is also an inhabitant of Abj-ssinia, and 

 probably of the intervening countries. Like the pre- 

 ceding species, it dwells either in the jungly districts 

 or in the vicinity of towns and villages, over which it 

 is frequently seen daily in company with the kites. 

 Its food consists of hares and other game, but it also 

 condescends to devour rats, lizards, snakes, and even 

 insects, and it appears to share with the kites in any 

 carrion that may fall in its way. Mr. Jerdon thinks 

 that it obtains much of its food by robbing other birds 

 of prey, and he quotes a statement of Mr. Elliot's, that 

 this eagle is exceedingly troublesome to the falconers 

 by pursuing the hawks for the sake of their jesses, 

 which it mistakes for some kind of prey. 



THE BOOTED EAGLE (Aquila pennata) has the 

 feet feathered down to the toes, the plumage of the 

 back brown, and that of the lower parts white, marked 

 with narrow brown lines. It is the smallest of the true 

 eagles found in Europe, measuring only about twenty 

 inches in length. It occurs principally in the eastern 

 parts of Europe, and, like the preceding species, is an 

 inhabitant of India. In its appearance and. mode of 

 flight it resembles the kite, and, like that bird, it is said 

 to be a " noted robber of the dove-cot and poultry 

 yard." 



THE IMPERIAL EAGLE (Aquila imperialist, which 

 is also common to Europe and Asia, and yields only to 

 the golden eagle in size, abounds particularly in Turkey, 

 Egypt, and the north of Africa. It inhabits the hilly 

 districts, and when in search of prey, flies slowly along 

 at no great elevation, hunting over the bushy vallies 

 and ravines. It is said by Mr. Jerdon to strike fre- 

 quently at game raised by sportsmen. 



THE WEDGE-TAILED EAGLE (Aquila fucosa] is a 

 native of Australia and Van Diemen's Land, where it 

 evidently takes the place of the golden eagle of Europe, 

 to which it is scarcely inferior in size. A specimen killed 

 by Mr. Gould measured six feet eight inches from tip 

 to tip of the wings, and he considers this to be far 

 from the largest bird of this species which had come 

 under his notice. The wedge-tailed eagle frequents 

 the interior of the country, and like its northern ana- 

 logue, the golden eagle, rarely makes its appearance on 

 the coast. It preys principally on the smaller species 

 of kangaroos and also on the large Australian bustard ; 

 and in the districts inhabited by the European settlers 

 it is so destructive to the young lambs, that the shep- 

 herds wage with it a war of extermination. It will 

 also devour offals and carrion; for the former it will 

 follow the kangaroo-hunters for days, and Mr. Gould 

 states, that in one of his journies he saw no less than 

 thirty or forty of these birds assembled round the car- 

 case of a dead bullock, some sitting in a gorged state 

 upon the neighbouring trees, while others were still 

 enjoying the feast. 



2 I 



