DIURNAL BIRDS-OF-PREY 



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owl (B. inaculosus), distinguished by the round white spots on the upper part of 

 the body, is confined to southern Africa. 



Diurnal Birds-of- The f alcons are represented in South Africa by the red-headed 



prey. Falco biarmicus, a species about the size of a peregrine, distinguished 

 by the slight development of spots on the under surface. The black Cape eagle 

 (Aquila verreauxi) ranges northwards into Abyssinia, while the tawny eagle 

 (A. rapax), distinguishable by the brown and rufous feathers of the upper-parts, is 

 found over the greater part of the continent. The former species constructs its 

 nest in Cape Colony entirely of the green boughs of a rough bush, which 

 must be very difficult to break off. The only other instance of the use of 

 similar material for nest-making occurs in the case of another African species, 

 A. ivahlbergi, where it is used as lining. A. verreauxi preys, to a great 

 extent, on hyraxes, numerous remains of which have been found in its 

 nests, but also hunts and kills a certain number of klipspringers. A very 

 characteristic African bird is the short-tailed bateleur eagle (Helotarsus 

 ecaudatus), ranging all over the continent south of the Sahara and common 

 in many districts, but preferring the mountains to the plains, and open countiy 

 to forest. The nest, however, is generally placed in high trees, the branches 

 of which are thickly set with thorns. Snakes constitute the chief food of these 

 eagles, which also eat lizards, small mammals, such as young antelopes, lambs, 

 and most probably also carrion. They kill and eat both poisonous and harmless 

 serpents, striking them swiftly with a stroke on the head. When the grass of 

 the African veldt is on fire the bateleur eagles and other serpent-eaters follow 

 the line of fire in order to seize the fleeing reptiles amid the dense smoke. At 

 night bateleurs retire to trees to roost, coming forth again at dawn to hunt for 

 food, but reposing during the heat of the day. In covering the distance be- 

 tween their roosting-places and their hunting-grounds these fine birds fly at a 

 height of some 200 feet above the ground, their superb flight, more like that 

 of a vulture than of an eagle, making them no less conspicuous than does the 

 contrast between the white on the under side of the wings and the black of the 

 body. In East and North-east Africa is found the creamy-backed species known as 

 the black-winged bateleur (H. leuconotus). 



The African sea-eagle (Haliaetus vocifer), which ranges over the continent, is 

 distinguished by the white head and shoulders, white breast and tail, and chestnut 

 under-parts. Representing a genus by itself, the Angola sea-eagle (Gypohierax 

 angolensis) is characterised by the bare space round the mouth and eyes, and the 

 long beak. In colour it is mostly white, with the exception of the scapulars, 

 primaries, secondaries, and the bases of the tail-feathers, which are black. This 

 bird is common on the west coast, but rare in South and East Africa. The 

 handsome crested eagles are represented in the Ethiopian region by the crowned 

 eagle (Spizaetus coronatus), the tufted eagle (S. occipitalis), and the fighting-eagle 

 (S. bellicosus). Of the bare-cheeked hawks, which are common to Africa and 

 Madagascar, the African Polyboroides typicus, locally known as the serpent 

 sparrow-hawk, is grey in general colour, with white tips to the black wing and 

 tail-feathers, and the lower part of the breast barred with black and white. 

 The Malagasy P. radiatus, on the other hand, is of a more silvery tone of colour. 



