180 FALCONID^E. 



Adult. Above brown ; feathers of mantle showing a whitish patch, owing 

 to only the tips of the feathers being coloured ; below white, streaked with 

 black ; irides golden yellow. 



Immature. Fulvous brown. 



Length 26-29 inches, tarsus 4|. From tip to tip of extended wings a 

 female measured exactly 5 feet. 



192. Nisaetus pennatus (Gmelin). The Booted Eagle. 



Moorish. Ta-ferma (Favier). 



" This Eagle is migratory, crossing to Europe in March and 

 April, returning in September; some remain to breed in the 

 vicinity of Tangier to go south for the winter with the return 

 migration, and they are abundant when on passage. They 

 nest on high trees in April and May, laying from one to three 

 white eggs, often much stained and with a rough surface." 

 Favier. 



On the Spanish side this, the smallest of the European Eagles, 

 is, about Gibraltar, entirely migratory. Many were noticed 

 crossing on the 24th of March. They frequent wooded districts, 

 and the most plentiful of the birds of prey in the Cork- wood 

 during the summer, when their wailing cry may be heard all day 

 long. The nests there were, without exception, on oak-trees, 

 sometimes completely hidden in ivy. In the Cotos near Seville 

 they generally built in pine-trees. The same nest is used year 

 after year ; if the old birds be shot, next season another pair take 

 possession to repair and reline it with fresh green twigs of the 

 oak. Two is the usual number of eggs ; I have known three, 

 but frequently only one; their general colour is pale bluish 

 white, sometimes stained or spotted with faint buff marks. The 

 earliest taken was on the 12th of April ; but about ten days later 

 is the best time to get them. This Eagle when put off the nest, 

 instead of flying straight away, stoops down till it nearly touches 

 the ground, and then flies away gradually rising. 



Verner writes : "This Eagle varies somewhat in its time of 



