1866. J MR. H. E. DRESSER ON THE BOOTED EAGLE. 377 



7. Notes on the Breeding of the Booted Eagle (Aqirila pen- 

 nuta). By H. E. Dressek, F.Z.S. 



On my return to England this year from a journey through 

 Southern Europe I remained a few days at Madrid, chiefly with the 

 view of obtaining the eggs of some of the rarer birds frequenting the 

 neighbourhood of that town. 



I obtained great assistance from Manuel de la Torre, the chasseur 

 who had accompanied Lord Lilford ; and as I and Manuel became 

 very friendly, I was soon made acquainted with the haunts of most 

 of the rarer birds. 



I was especially wishful to take the eggs of the Booted Eagle 

 {Aquila pennata) with my own hands ; and Manuel, on being applied 

 to, at once agreed to act as guide, fixing an early day for the trip, 

 and at the same time promised me that he would not think of re- 

 turning to Madrid before we had obtained at least one nest of this 

 Eagle. 



Accordingly on the 15th of May, 1866, I was up early, and ready 

 for a start by half-past six a.m., at which time Manuel, true to his 

 appointment, came to my room fully equipped for the trip. 



We left Madrid by rail, taking tickets to Aranjuez ; but, meeting 

 some of Manuel's friends in the train, with whom we talked matters 

 over, it seemed from what they said that we should stand but a poor 

 chance of success there, and we therefore determined to proceed to 

 some station near Toledo. At Castellejo we left the train, and started 

 off towards a belt of trees on the banks of the Tagus, some distance 

 from the railway station. On our way we were stopped by one of 

 the Royal keepers, who, however, on recognizing Manuel, apologized 

 for stopping us, and, hearing on what errand we were, accompanied us 

 for some distance. He told me that he had seen many Great Spotted 

 Cuckoos (Cucidus glandarius), and had already found some of their 

 eggs in a Magpie's nest, some miles distant from where we then were. 

 I told him I would purchase any eggs he could procure for me ; and 

 he left us to seek for some, promising to meet me at the station in 

 the evening if he could possibly get back in time. 



On our way to the grove we saw not a few Bee-eaters and some 

 Goldfinches, but nothing else. On entering the thicket we noticed 

 several Sylvice eetti and a Sylvia bonelli, and found two or three 

 colonies of Passer hispaniolensis. These Sparrows build their nests 

 on the outer branches of the highest trees, quite out of the reach 

 of any stray egg-collector who might take a fancy to their contents. 

 In some trees I counted ten or a dozen of their nests, all built of 

 light-coloured grasses and the cotton of the white elm tree. 



Here seemed to be the very place for a naturalist ; for he would 

 certainly find no lack of specimens, and no small variety. We saw 

 several Black Kites, Common Kites, and a Buzzard before we had 

 walked any great distance, and on pressing through the underwood 

 flushed a pair of Scops Owls, who, after taking a good look at 



Proc. Zool. Soc— 1866, No. XXV. 



