FALCOXID.E — THE FALCONS. 



317 



Ai/iiila mnwiensis. 



in the Ibis (.f ISGl (p. 112), gives a very inftjresting account of a pair of 

 Golden Eagles, which the previous season built their nest in a large Scotch 

 tir-tree, in a wood on the southern bank of Glen Lyon, in Perthshire, ^v•ithin 

 a few hundred yards of JMeggerine 

 Castle. Four eggs were laid, two 

 of which were hatched. The nest 

 was one of the Eagles' own con- 

 struction, and is specially interest- 

 ing from being in sucii near i)rox- 

 inuty to human habitations. Mr. 

 Tristram (Iliis, 18r.<J, p. 283, in 

 liis valuable note on the birds of 

 North Africa), while he never ob- 

 served this Eagle in any of the clifi's 

 among the mountain ranges of the 

 desert, found it almost gregarious, 

 so abundant was it among the Day- 

 ets. In one wood he saw no less 

 than seven pairs of the Eagles, each 

 pair with a wqa. There were, be- 

 sides, many unoccupied nests, and, indeed, very few terebinths of any size 

 were witiiout a huge platform of sticks on the topmost boughs. The birds 

 were undisturbed, and consequently very fearless. On the other hand Mr 

 Salv.n, m the same volume (p. 180) among the mountains of Eastern Atlas 

 describes very different manner of life in the same birds. "Whatever rock a 

 pair may choose for their eyrie, there they reign alone in dignified solitude, nor 

 do hey allow a single Vulture, Kite, or indeed any other species of rapacious 

 bird to occupy with their nest a single spot in the same rock, however eligible 

 or the purpose ; nor are these other species ever t<» be seen in the haunts of 

 their exclusive majesties. The whole southern precipice at Djebel Dekma 

 was thus tenanted by a single pair of this Eagle, as also several other rocks 

 that came under our notice. Instances of the Golden Eagle buildinc. i„ 

 trees were by no means of unfrequent occurrence" 



The extreme southern range of the European bird, its gregarious hab:., 

 and the frequency ot its building in trees, are all i-culiarities not observed 

 sultttr"''''' *°""' '^''"^ ""'' "°' necessarily conclusive, but are at least 



The Golden Eagle in this country usually constructs its nest on the sides 

 ot steep, rocky crags, where its materials are coarsely heaped together on a 

 projecting shell of rock. These consist of large sticks, loosely an-anged, and 

 lined with other softer materials. In rare instances they are said t^o build 

 on trees, where rocky cliffs are not to be met with. The eggs are usually 

 three in number ; sometimes two, or only one. Mr. Audubon describes them 

 as measuring 3.50 inches in length by 2.50 in breadth ; the sheU thick and 



