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NOTES ON BRITISH RECORDS OE THE SPOTTED 



EAGLE AND STEPPE BUZZARD 



AND ON THE BRITISH TAWNV OWL. 



BY 



H. F. WITHERBY. 



The Spotted Eagle {Aquila clanga). 



While there is no clear proof that the Lesser Spotted Eagle 

 {A. pomarina) has ever occurred in the British Islands, some 

 of the records of Spotted Eagles are so wanting in essential 

 details that it is impossible to say to which species they refer. 



In the hope that further information may be forthcoming, 

 or, better, that the doubtful birds may be sent for examination, 

 I have discussed each record below. It seems to be generally 

 supposed that the two species can always be separated by 

 size, but unfortunately the measurements of males and 

 females overlap, and in several cases the sex has not been 

 ascertained. The considerably darker coloration of the upper 

 parts of A. clanga at all ages, and in immature examples also 

 the larger spots on the mantle than in A. pomarina are the 

 best guides. There are also differences in wing formula, 

 but for this one must make certain that the wing-feathers 

 are not in a state of moult, which is not so easy in a stuffed 

 bird. The following are the recorded occurrences : — 



ist, Immature bird, sex not stated, January 1845, shot near 

 Youghal, Ireland, and now in the Museum of Trinity College, 

 Dublin. Two were shot, but apparently only one preserved. 

 Mr. Ussher {Birds of Ireland, p. 125) states that the wing 

 measures igf inches (= 502 mm.), but gives no further 

 details. The size might refer to either species, depending 

 upon the sex. Newton (Yarrell, 4th ed., i, p. 20) gives a 

 figure of this bird from a coloured drawing sent to him by 

 Mr. R. Davis, but this is not conclusive though the figure is 

 more like A. clanga. This bird should be carefully examined. 



2nd, Male, immature, December 4th, i860, captured in 

 Hawk's Wood, Trebartha, between Hawk's Tor and Kilmar 

 Tor in eastern Cornwah (E. H. Rodd, Zool., 1861, p. 7311).* 

 Rodd gives a good description which points to the bird being 

 A. clanga, and the size of the wing " from carpal joint to the 

 end of the longest quill-feather (5tli), i ft. 8 in." [— 507 mm.) 

 is larger than any male A. pomarina I have measured. 



* Murray A. Matthew subsequently wrote {Zool., 1861, p. 7380) 

 that three years before Mr. Heaven had shot a Spotted Eagle on Lundy 

 Island, but in his Birds of Devon he places the species in square brackets 

 and states that the bird rolled over the cliff, fell into the sea, and was 

 lost. From some feathers picked up it was thought to be of this species. 



