MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. yr,3 



observation on its rising. In mch a case this is needful, as the young of tlis n-xfc 

 species {Aquila hdiaca, the Imperial Eagie) have, in the '-lineated stao-e" 

 the tail broadly tipped with fuvous white, remainder of tail uniformly dull 

 white" (the italics above are mine). 



Then again, spealdng of the Imperial, the reviewer says:— "'It is very 

 connnonly called and taken for a Golden Eagle, and the mistake is an easy one 

 to make in old birds flying overhead. If one can see the back, the white mark- 

 ings of the Imperial Eagle, though very variable, will often be conspicuous 

 enough to distinguish him by." 



From the above it would appear that both the young of the Golden Ea^Io 

 and that of the Imperial Eagle are very similar in colour, and therefore it^'is 

 very necessary' to note the difference in the tail marking. This, however is 

 not the case and any possibility of confusion between the young pluma"-?s of 

 these two species is absolutely impossible. In the young of the Golden 'Eagle 

 the entire plumage is practically black, with the exception of the head, a tail 

 bar, and very conspicuous moons on each wing, which are white. In the Im- 

 perial Eagle, the young or " lineated " plumage is of varying shades of brown 

 above and much lighter below, so any confusion in this respect is impossible. 



In the adult plumage a mistake is very possible and the white irregular 

 markings of the Imperial Eagle on the back are no criterion, as a Golden Eafde, 

 especially when flying in a strong wind, shows white bases to scapular and 

 back feathers, which resemble the white marks on the back of the Imperial. 



In ihe above case it would appear that the writer of the review himself mistook 

 the imperial for the Golden, for no young Golden Eagle ever resembled an Im- 

 perial in its lineated stage. 



Dharmsala, C. H. DONALD, f.z.s., m.b.o.u. 



March 1921. 



Mr. Willoughby Verner in his book the *' Wild Birds of Spain " gives 

 a very interesting account of the " bone breaking " habit of the Lammer- 

 gyer which is known localy as Quebranta-fiuesos or ' Hone-smasher ^ {imm 

 hue-'-os a bone, (juebrar, to break). He illustrates Lis description with a 

 sketch drawn while observing the bird " sailing around perhaps I'OOU' 

 above, carrying some long object " which was made out to be the hiud 

 limb of some large animal. The bird was clutching it with his right foot. 

 After a while the bird let it go when it whirled down and struck with a 

 sharp crash on some rocks below. The bird immediately dived and 

 alighted close to the object. It was observed pulling at the limb, for a few 

 minutes feeding o!i' it. Then it seized it, this time with the left foot, again 

 just below the fetlock, and took wing. The author took a second sketch 

 of the bird in flight and it was observed that the limb was much shorter 

 than before, appearing as though the femur had been torn from it. 



Eds. 



Xo. XIX.— ABXOR]\L\L EGG OF THE "SIO^ AL (LOPHOPHORUS 

 REFULOENS). 



I have read, with much interest, the short letter from Mr. Chas. AI. Inglis, 

 F, Z. S., in the last numbei- of the Journal to reacli me, concerning the "Abnor- 

 mal Coloured Egg of the Pheasant-Tailed Jacana" and think the following 

 few remarks may prove of interest to your readers. 



When shooting in Chamba State in 1914, whilst climbing down a khud, I 

 was nearly dislodged by a hen Monal pheasant, whose nest was in a hole into 

 which I placed my foot. 



