56 BIRDS OF INDIA. 



greyisli brown, with numerous dark markings and cloudings, or 

 dusky brown with numerous grey mottlings on the inner web, 

 especially towards the base, almost white on the base in young 

 birds. 



Irides clear orano-e brown ; cere and feet yellow. 



Length about 3 feet to 40 inches ; extent 8 feet ; wing 28 

 inches ; tail 17 ; tarsus 4^ ; mid toe and claw 4^ ; bill at gape 2^ ; 

 height 1^. 



The 4th quill is the longest ; the inner claw is longer than the 

 centre one, but the hind claw is the largest ; the nostrils are oval, 

 nearly transverse; the wings do not reach nearly to the end 

 of the tail. 



The young bird has the plumage generally of a much lighter 

 shade, the tail almost pure white, except at the tip, which is broadly 

 dusky black, and a good deal of white on other parts, viz., on the 

 primary quills, secondaries, and at the roots of many of the body 

 feathers, especially on the upper tail coverts. This white is 

 gradually overcome by the occurrence of bars and cloudings, and 

 by the third or fourth year the plumage is perfected. 



This magnificent Eagle is found but rarely in India, and only, I 

 believe, on the Himalayas. Sykes' Golden Eagle (Cat. No. 7) 

 is not referred to by Horsfield in his Catalogue, and was most 

 probably the next species, as my supposed Golden Eagle (Cat. 

 No. 9) undoubtedly was. (At Simla and the North- Western 

 Himalayas the Lammergeyer is often called the Golden Eaole.) 

 Its habits in Europe are well known. It breeds on steep cliffs, 

 and lays two eggs white, with brown and purplish blotches. 



The golden Eagle is found over the greater part of Nor- 

 thern and Central Europe, Asia, and America. In Central Asia 

 it is trained by the Kirghises and other tribes, to kill antelopes, 

 foxes, and even wolves, it is said ; and is held in the highest esteem 

 by all the tribes of Central Asia. It is carried on a perch between 

 two men, or fixed on a horse. It is said to seize the smaller ani- 

 mals with one foot, and drag the other on the ground, but fixes 

 on the head and neck of the larger animals. It is named Berkut 

 or Bjurkut by the Tartars, and a trained Eai^de is worth two 



