THE ZooLocist—NovemBER, 1872. 3309 
sea was very smooth at the time—Henry Durnford; 1, Stanley Road, 
Waterloo, Liverpool. 
Golden Eagle in the Isle of Wight.—A full-grown but immature bird 
of this rare species was shot on the 21st of September, at Bowecome, in the 
parish of Carisbrooke, by Mr. Joseph Jolliffe, who, with two others, went 
in search of it at an early hour, it having been observed in that neighbour- 
hood and at Gatcombe for some days. After a long search through the 
different woods and copses, it was observed sitting on a branch of an isolated 
tree on the skirts of the cover, and on being disturbed flew into a clump of 
trees not far off, and when followed up again took wing, but soon alighted 
on a tree in or near the cover, where it was stalked or stealthily approached 
by Mr. Jolliffe, shot at and slightly wounded as it rose on wing, having 
dropped one leg: it flew towards the downs, where it alighted and was 
captured, but not without some show of resistance. An attempt was made 
to kill it, and it was seemingly dead, but revived, so tenacious of life are 
birds of prey ; for instance, when in Canada, I had great difficulty in killing 
a wounded greathorned owl, though my whole strength and weight were 
brought to bear on it. On being skinned by Mr. Smith, the Newport 
taxidermist (to whom I am indebted for the above particulars, and for 
having been allowed a close inspection and to take measurements), it was 
found to have received one shot in the leg and another in the side, 
penetrating to the keel ; no other wounds were observed, but I am inclined 
to think more shots must have taken effect, though overlooked, as it is not 
likely that a wild eagle, with a mere flesh wound and wings untouched, 
would allow itself to be thus captured. Mr. Smith took it to be a male 
bird, but what he described did not satisfy or convince me of it; besides, 
though immature, it exceeds the adult male in size, and is somewhat 
larger than an adult female mentioned by Macgillivray. I must now give 
some description, though but a partial, not to say imperfect, one, seeing 
that the notes and measurements were taken during the hour or two I was 
at Mr. Smith’s. Head of a dark reddish brown—the feathers have a central 
streak of black, and there is some white about them; nape light brown, 
with a yellowish tinge—these feathers have also a narrow longitudinal line 
of black; back of the neck light brown—feathers margined and tipped with 
yellowish brown, and are lanceolate in shape; upper part of back dark 
reddish brown, the lower lighter brown, and the feathers have much white 
about them, and there is more or less of this throughout the plumage, 
particularly on the neck and breast, giving the bird a mottled appearance ; 
under parts dark reddish brown. Primaries black for a considerable part of 
their length, the rest of the feathers white and reddish white, shafts black, 
coverts of a light brown and white, tinged with reddish; wing at flexure of 
a glossy light reddish brown, mottled with gray, and measures from that 
joint to the end of quills about twenty-three inches. Tail thirteen inches 
SECOND SERIES—VOL, VII, 3K 
