THE SMALL CAPE EAGLE. 



Aqi'ila yvLTiRi\A. Smith. 



This fine little Eagle appears to have entirely escaped 

 the notice of Le Vaillant, and of all the other writers 

 on the Ornithology of the neighbourhood of the Cape 

 of Good Hope. It is, however, as we learn from 

 Dr. Smith, its first and hitherto sole describer, found 

 throughout the whole of South Africa. M. Cuvier 

 may possibly allude to it in the new edition of his 

 Regne Animal, where he mentions in a note, as belong- 

 ing to the group of genuine Eagles, Le petit Aigle du 

 Cap (Falco nsevioides, Cuv.) characterized by a mixture 

 of brown, fawn-colour, and dusky black. But this 

 slight indication, although containing nothing repug- 

 nant to the supposition of the identity of the two birds, 

 is by no means sufficient to establish it. We are there- 

 fore compelled, more especially as we believe Dr. Smith's 



BIRDS. u 



