THE GREAT FOREST EAGLE 277 



the eagles, half goshawk, half buzzard, which have been 

 found in parts of the tropical forest, though for the 

 reasons mentioned above they are very rarely seen, and 

 still more rarely captured for collections. But in its 

 combined armament of beak and claws the forest eagle 

 exceeds not only all these great hawks, but each and 

 every one of the other eagles. The beak is not larger 

 than that of Pallas's sea eagle, and the power of the 

 wrist and claws is not so great as that of the harpy 

 eagle. But the combination of the two weapons of 

 offence possessed by the Samar eagle is greater than 

 that of either of the formidable species named. The 

 beak is so hooked that the outline in profile is the 

 perfect segment of a circle, the exact centre of which 

 is the point at which the skin, called the cere, joins the 

 cutting edge of the upper mandible. Mr. Grant notes 

 that the depth of the bill is greater than that of any 

 known bird of prey, except Pallas's sea eagle, and it is 

 so compressed that the edges must cut like a double- 

 bladed knife. The skull is very large, much larger 

 than that of the harpy eagle, and the claws and feet are 

 specially adapted for holding large animals with close, 

 thick fur, the length of wrist and close covering of 

 scales giving full play to the talons. The nature of the 

 prey against which this exceptional armament is directed 

 is still matter of conjecture. The natives say that the 

 eagle lives mainly by killing monkeys. This is a very 



