RED-FOOTED FALCON — IMPERIAL EAGLE — STEPPE-EAGLE 



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following the course of the rivers, and appears in southern France, Switzerland, 

 Italy, Greece, the Mediterranean islands, the shores of the Bosphorus, eastern 

 Africa, Arabia, and India. It returns in spring, to nest on cliffs and high trees, or 

 on ledges of rock and steep slopes, but never in the plains. Its nest has on rare 

 occasions been found in central and northern Germany. In Hungary it takes 

 possession of magpies' and jackdaws' nests, driving away the rightful owners, if 

 necessary, with the assistance of its fellows. This falcon is gregarious, and generally 

 hunts in the evening till late at night, a practice from which is derived its specific 

 name. It preys chiefly on insects, especially locusts, following the swarms of the 

 latter on their journeys in company with rosy starlings. It also catches small 

 beetles on the ground, clutches them with its claws, and eats them piece-meal as it 

 flies. After appeasing its hunger, it perches on the dry branches of a tree, or on a 

 hedge or even a clod of earth. It takes its name of red-footed falcon from the 

 bright red hue of its feet, the same colour obtaining on the lores. In the males the 

 back is leaden grey, in the females bluish grey barred with black. In length this 

 falcon is about 11| inches. The tail is black, the thighs are chestnut, and the claws 

 yellowish white. 



A much larger bird, the imperial eagle (Aquila heliaca), is an 

 " inhabitant both of the forest and of the steppe. In plains and in 

 mountains of moderate height, it frequents the forest where it is much less 

 particular in the choice of its breeding-places than the golden eagle. In the 

 steppe it nests among solitary groups of trees, and even in treeless districts. The 

 nest, which is comparatively small and built of the usual thick sticks at the base, 

 with thinner ones towards the top, is sometimes lined with green leaves, dry grass, 

 wool, and other material. In April or later it contains two or three white eggs with 

 regular violet grey and rusty-coloured spots and dots, and also forms a home for 

 numerous sparrows, which build in its sides. Most of the nests are found in 

 districts where dormice are plentiful, these rodents being the favourite prey of the 

 imperial eagle. By no means so bold as the golden eagle, this species will neverthe- 

 less defend its nest even against that eagle with the greatest courage. Like the 

 golden eagle, it performs playful evolutions in the air, holding itself more like a raven 

 than a falcon, that is to say, more nearly horizontal. The imperial eagle inhabits 

 south-eastern Europe and north-eastern Africa, and ranges eastwards into India 

 and China. In Europe it breeds in southern Hungary, but more frequently in 

 Slavonia, Transylvania, Servia, Rumania, Turkey, Greece, and the lower Danube. 

 From southern Europe it does not migrate at all, or at least not far, but in more 

 northerly parts it is a bird of passage, and in Africa is met with far up the 

 valley of the Nile. The female, like that of most other birds-of-prey, is much the 

 larger of the two, although not so vivid in colouring as the male. The total length 

 of this eagle is from 30 to 33 inches. The feet are covered with dark feathers 

 down to the toes ; on the middle toe are five large scales, and on each of the rest of 

 the toes four. The cere and feet are pale yellow ; there is a white patch on the sca- 

 pulars, and the tail shows indistinct ashy grey markings with a black bar at the end. 

 The nest of the steppe-eagle (A. nipalensis) has been found on 

 steppe-Eagle. ^ s h res of the Volga, in central Asia, and in the Dobrudscha, 

 where one was situated on the bare ground beneath the shelter of a shrub. The 



