Harrier and Serpent Eagles 249 



tawny color sometimes so pale as to be nearly white beneath, while the scapu- 

 lars, back, and wing-coverts generally are of a glossy grayish black, most of 

 the feathers having a white shaft and a median tawny line. The quill-feathers, 

 both of wings and tail, are of a dark blackish gray." They breed early in the 

 year, building a nest of large size which is composed of sticks and lined with 

 softer material, placing it on a rocky ledge or a niche in the face of a cliff, usually 

 in an inaccessible position, where they lay but a single egg, which is described 

 as being pale brownish orange in color. There is considerable disagreement 

 among observers regarding the usual food of the Lammergeier, some claim- 

 ing that the bulk of it consists of carrion, offal, etc., while others assert that 

 they are able to capture their own prey. Doubtless the truth lies between, 

 for while they undoubtedly eat carrion it is equally true that they not infre- 

 quently kill the young of various animals. Two other species of Gypaelus are 

 known from the mountains of Africa. 



The Harrier, Serpent, and Bateleur Eagles (Subfamily Circaetina) . The 

 present group of exclusively Old World birds exhibits distinct features which 

 ally it to the true Buzzards, which will be considered shortly. They a're em- 

 braced in several genera and perhaps twenty-five species, but the following are 

 all that we shall have space to mention. 



The Harrier-Eagles (Circaetus), so called from their habit of beating and 

 hovering much after the manner of the Harriers, are birds of moderate size, 

 with large heads, medium-sized but much hooked bills, and oval nostrils which 

 are overhung by bristles from the lores. The tail and wings are long and the 

 tarsi naked, except above, and covered all around with small, rounded, over- 

 lapping scales, while the toes and claws are short, the latter not much curved. 

 Of the six species, four are confined to various parts of Africa, while the others 

 are of wide distribution, the Common Harrier, or Short-toed Eagle (C. gallicus), 

 ranging from southern Europe and the Mediterranean countries to central Asia. 

 In this species the female is about twenty-eight and the male twenty-six inches 

 long, the general coloration being brown above, with the head becoming ashy, 

 the wings blackish, and the under parts white, the throat streaked with brown 

 and the flanks with broad dark bars. The tail is brown, white-tipped, and 

 crossed with three or four dark bands. This species frequents the open country 

 and cultivated ground, where it is often seen perched on trees or beating over 

 the ground and bushes for its prey, which consists of snakes, lizards, frogs, 

 crabs, rats, and large insects. The nest is usually placed in trees, though occa- 

 sionally on a shelf in the face of high clay cliffs of rivers. When suitable trees 

 are available the nest is placed in the top of a very high one; but where only 

 low trees are to be had it places the nest perforce only from fifteen to twenty 

 feet from the ground. The nest is rather loosely constructed of sticks and 

 lined with grass or green leaves, and so far as known but a single egg is laid, 

 this being bluish white and unspotted. The Black-breasted Harrier-Eagle 

 (C. cinereus} is a quite generally distributed but always rather rare bird of 

 tropical Africa, being blackish brown tinged with gray above, the breast brownish 

 black, and the lower parts white, while the tail is gray, crossed by broad black 



