208 CAPT. W. H. TJNWIN ON THE BREEDING [Apr. 21, 



tail-coverts. The bill is stouter and has a much more strongly marked 

 and deeper sulcus. I have examined many specimens of Eud. minor 

 and the so-called Eud. undina, but I never observed the pecu- 

 liarities above mentioned, which, in my opinion, are of specific 

 value. 



3. On the Breeding of the Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) 

 in North-western India. By W. H. Unwin, Captain, 

 Bengal Staff Corps* 



[Eeceived March 16, 1874.] 



On the 13th of May, 1871, three Goorkhas, soldiers of the regi- 

 ment to which I belong, brought me a large dark-coloured Eagle, 

 which they told me they bad shot near its nest on one of the higher 

 mountain-ranges near the cantonment of Abbottabad, in the Hazara 

 district of the Punjab. They produced at the same time a young 

 bird, also evidently an Eagle, which they stated they had taken out 

 of the nest after shooting the old one. I at first sight supposed the 

 latter to be a large A. imperialis in its dark or mature stage of plu- 

 mage ; but a close examination and comparison with the scientific 

 description induced me to alter this opinion, and to believe that the 

 Eagle before me was no less than a specimen, and a very fine one, of 

 A. chrysaetos. I was further confirmed in this belief by correspon- 

 dence with better ornithologists than myself, and also by data which 

 I obtained while watching the gradual growth of the young bird, 

 and which, at the risk of being tedious, I have given as fully as pos- 

 sible below. These data, though very roughly put together, are, in 

 my opinion, of some value, as they serve to prove most indubitably 

 that the Golden Eagle does (occasionally, at least) not only visit but 

 actually breed within the geographical limits of India. 



Before entering on a description of the young Eagle and his 

 gradual development in growth and plumage, I think it well to 

 give a short description of its parent, the situation and structure of 

 her nest, and the general features of the country in which it was 

 found. The Hazara district lies at the north-eastern corner of the 

 Punjab, contiguous to and on the left bank of the Indus, and sub- 

 jacent to the high mountains which separate the Kashmir valley and 

 its dependencies from the plains. It consists of a number of valleys 

 of different elevations, sloping up gradually from the plains and sur- 

 rounded by ranges of hills and upland plateaux, which are drained 

 by streams and small rivers falling into the Indus. These lower 

 ranges of hills are of various elevations, from 2000 to 6000 feet ; and 

 they and their interlying valleys are overlooked in the upper part of 

 the district by mountains ranging from 7000 to 15,000 and 16,000 

 feet in height. These different elevations give great variety of situa- 

 tion and climate ; and the district thus becomes a sort of debatable 

 land on which the birds of hill and plain both meet, while the hilly 

 and wooded nature of the country and its near proximity to Kashmir 

 * Communicated by Mr. E. B. Sharpe, F.Z.S. 



