182 FALCONID.E. 



The young birds generally are of a uniform dark reddish- 

 brown colour, but this is not always the case. 



Description. See Plate. Length 23-24 inches. 



193. Circaetus gallicus (Ghnelin). The Snake-Eagle. 



Moorish. Tair el hesan. Spanish. Culebrera (the snake-eater), 

 Aguila parda, Melion. 



" Migratory. Some remain to nest near Tangier, building on 

 very tall trees or rocks, laying in April or May one egg, very 

 round in shape, though slightly smaller at one end, of a white 

 colour, sometimes marked with rusty spots. The males sit in 

 their turn ; the young do not fly till September. Those which 

 pass over to Europe cross in March and April to return in 

 October. Although not uncommon in the vicinity of Tangier, it 

 is more so than Bonelli's Eagle. They will sometimes allow 

 themselves to be killed on the nest rather than desert their young. 

 Sixteen eggs have passed through my hands." Favier. 



" The Short-toed " best named the Snake-Eagle is very com- 

 mon both in Morocco and Andalucia, frequenting wooded districts 

 and the valleys of the sierras, being by far the most abundant 

 Eagle near Gibraltar, except the Booted Eagle in some localities. 

 As far as could be observed, they are migratory, as I never saw 

 one in the winter months but Rafael Mena got one near 

 Malaga on the 10th of January, 1882, a bird apparently of the 

 second year, and the only specimen but one obtained by him there 

 up to that date, the absence of their chief food (snakes and 

 lizards) at that season being quite sufficient to account for their 

 departure, as the temperature at that season, even in sunny 

 Andalucia, is quite low enough to cause these reptiles to 

 hibernate. 



This Eagle breeds about the middle of April ; all nests I have 

 seen were in cork, oak, or pine trees, and consisted of a mass of 

 sticks, generally lined with fresh leaves and twigs of the cork- 



