1866. J MR. H. E. DRESSER ON THE BOOTED EAGLE. 379 



dation of the nest itself were two nests of Passer hispaniolensis, 

 neither of which, however, contained eggs, the one being only half 

 finished. 



In the branches close to the Eagle's nest were several more 

 Sparrows' nests ; and in a rotten limb a (ew feet below was a 

 new nest of Picus minor, and close to it an old nest of the same 

 bird. 



The eggs of Aquila pennata, which now are (with the exception 

 of the nest-stains) pure white, were, when quite fresh, white with a 

 faint greenish tinge. In shape and size they much resemble the 

 eggs of Astur palumbarins ; but the shell is somewhat more coarse- 

 grained. The above-mentioned eggs were quite fresh, one of them 

 having probably been laid the previous day. 



Having rested myself and scribbled down the above notes, I de- 

 scended the tree, getting down with much greater facility and speed 

 than I ascended. Manuel had gone off; so I sat and waited for him, 

 and in the meantime noted down the colours of the cere, iris, &c. of 

 the bird itself, which I copy as follows : — Cere and feet light wax- 

 yellow ; claws black ; beak at cere light blue, darkening towards the 

 tip into a dark horn-blue colour ; iris light brown. 



Having done this I sat down and watched what birds were to be 

 seen. In the distance I could hear the " hoop, hoop " of the Hoopoe ; 

 and a Roller came and perched on a tree not far off. 



Before long Picus minor made his appearance, and seemed not a 

 little satisfied that his home had remained undisturbed. High above 

 me the mate of the wounded Eagle was circling, keeping, however, 

 so far off that there was no chance of obtaining a shot at him. After 

 waiting a short time I heard some one pushing his way through the 

 brambles ; and soon after, Manuel appeared, bringing with him a nest 

 and four eggs of Fringilla carduelis that he had found. 



He proposed that we should skirt along the river-bank, and thought 

 that he knew of a place where we might find Caprimulgus ruficollis. 

 We were, however, not fortunate enough to find any, although we 

 searched carefully for some time. 



At one place on the river-bank we found a colony of Merops api- 

 aster, numbering some 200 or 300, preparing their nests in a sandy 

 bank, but we were too early to find any eggs. 



After walking along the river-side for nearly an hour, and finding 

 three nests of Milvus migrans and two of Milvus regalis, we saw, in a 

 huge old white elm tree overhanging the river, a nest which Manuel 

 assured me was that of a Booted Eagle, and which he thought pro- 

 bable might contain something. We pelted the nest for some time, 

 but no bird left it ; and getting tired of pelting, I at last fired a 

 charge of dust-shot at the nest, with, however, no effect beyond that 

 of driving out several Sparrows, which evidently had nests in its 

 foundation. I therefore concluded that there was no bird on the 

 nest, and proposed that we should search further ; but Manuel re- 

 fused, saying that he thought it worth while to climb up to the 

 nest, it being his turn. 



