AQUILA BELLICOSA. 



point, the hook of upper mandible greatly lengthened, and the festooyi on the 

 cutting edge strongly developed. Wings long and pointed, and when folded 

 reach to within about two inches of the tip of the tail ; the third and fourth 

 quill feathers equal and longest ; the second and fifth slightly shorter; the 

 first considerably shorter. Toes with a few transverse plates superiorly behind 

 the base of the claws ; elsewhere covered with small, more or less circular 

 scales. Claws very strong, much curved and pointed, particularly those of the 

 middle and hinder toes ; these are also grooved internally. Tail, fan-shaped. 



DIMENSIONS. 



Inches. Lines. 

 Length from the point of the bill to 



the tip of the tail OG G 



of the bill from the gape 2 9 



of the wings when folded 24 6 



ofthetail 14 



of the tarsus 5 



Inches. Lines. 



Length of the outer toe 1 11 



of the inner toe 1 11 



of the middle toe 2 II 



of the hinder toe 1 7 



of the middle claw 2 1 



of the hinder claw 2 ft 



We have never met a male bird of the age in which the female is repre- 

 sented in the plate, yet we have reason to believe both undergo the same 

 changes ; we have seen one in which faint indications of brown markings 

 were still perceptible on the belly. 



The plumage of the specimen figured, we are inclined to beheve, is that of a bird of the 

 second year, and that had it Hved till after another moulting period, the whole of the under 

 parts, behind the breast, with the exception of the legs, would have been a uniform white 

 colour, or, in other words, it would have exhibited the garb which immediately precedes that 

 of maturity, and which has been described and represented by Levaillant.* Small antelopes, 

 hares, and gallinaceous birds, constitute the common food of this eagle, and after capturino- 

 them, it carries them away in its powerful talons, either to its nest or to some convenient situation 

 where it can in safety consume them. In seeking its prey, it flies almost constantly in circles, 

 and generally at a very great height ; yet the distance to which it ascends does not appear to 

 prove disadvantageous to it, as it readily detects the smallest of the quadrupeds upon which 

 it feeds, even from the great elevation to which it ascends. On discovering its prey it instantly 

 descends, and advances to the object of its pursuit with a rapidity and a noise which excites 

 surprise, though its approach may not have been unobserved. 



* Oiseaux d'Afrique, vol. i. plate 1. 



