112 British Birds, with their Nests and Eggs. 



rouglily speaking, that the spots are lost with advancing j^ears, and that the 

 plnmage of adults is of a more or less uniform dark brown. I have kept several 

 Spotted Eagles in captivity at Lilford, and find them verj^ peaceable and friendl}'- 

 inter se." The Spotted Eagle is known to feed also upon various insects, such as 

 grasshoppers and locusts, and upon carrion. 



According to Seebohm, the smaller, or western, form of the Spotted Eagle 

 ranges from Northern German}?, Pomerania, and the Baltic Provinces of Russia, 

 through Poland to the Caucasus ; while the larger, or eastern form is found across 

 Asia Minor and Central Asia as far as India; it also occurs in Turkey, Italy, and 

 rareh' in Spain. In winter both forms migrate to the south so far as Abyssinia. 



The Spotted Eagle nests early in May, building a large flat structure of 

 sticks almost invariably in a tree, and lining the nest with fresh twigs, leaves, or 

 grass. The eggs are generall}' two, rarel}? three, in number, some the writer has 

 from Mark, in Brandenburg, exactly resemble those of the Rough-legged Buzzard, 

 but are much larger in size ; Seebohm calls them miniatures of those of the 

 Golden Eagle; they measure from 2 '65 to 2 "3 inches, b}' from 2" 15 to 2'o inches; 

 some of them are very handsomel}- marked. The larger eggs of the Steppe 

 Eagle, Aquila nipalensis, have sometimes done duty in collections for the eggs of 

 the Spotted Eagle. 



In the Spotted Eagle stage, that is in the plumage of the first year, the 

 whole of the upper parts are dark purplish brown, the scapulars, wing-coverts, and 

 innermost secondaries, have a terminal yellowish-white spot ; the spots on the 

 wing-coverts being small on the top of the wing and increasing in size until the 

 lower feathers are broadly tipped with whitish ; on the nape the feathers are 

 elongated, and some of them are tipped with fulvous ; tail and primaries dark 

 purplish brown ; bill bluish horn at the base, dark horn at the tip ; irides hazel ; 

 cere and feet yellow ; claws dark horn ; under parts brown, streaked with rufous ; 

 thighs covered on the outside with yellowish feathers, streaked on the top with 

 rufous brown ; on the inside dark purplish brown ; tail and secondaries tipped 

 with greyish. 



The bird in the fourth 3-ear figured by Lord Lilford is a rufous brown all 

 over, some tawny feathers on the nape, back, secondaries, primaries, and tail, 

 darker brown with a purplish reflection, some of the lower wing-coverts have 

 small spots of yellowish white on their tips ; under parts and thighs tawny brown. 



The length of the male Spotted Eagle is about two feet, the female is slightly 

 larger. 



