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This, the smallest and most Buzzard-like of all the European Eagles, inhabits Southern Europe, 

 Africa, extending eastward to India and Ceylon. In Europe it is most common in the extreme 

 south-western and the extreme south-eastern districts — that is, in Spain and Turkey. It has not 

 occurred in Northern Europe or the British Isles, and is only an occasional visitant to Central 

 Europe. According to Borggreve (Vogelf. von Nord-Deutschl. p. 58) it has occurred once in 

 Lausitz ; and three specimens are said by Schlegel to have been obtained near Munich. It is 

 said by Degland and Gerbe (Orn. Eur. i. p. 37) to have been "observed in France, in the 

 departments of Maine-et-Loire, the Seine, TAube, l'Orne, Loir-et-Cher, la Sarthe, Mayenne, 

 Loire, and the Hautes- and Basses-Pyrenees, but nowhere numerous. It nests in Champagne, 

 in Eastern France, where Mr. J. Ray has several times taken its eggs." It is also found in 

 Provence, but is there rare ; and I may add that Mr. J. H. Gurney informs me that there is 

 an adult male in the Norwich Museum which was shot from its nest in Bar le Due, France. 

 Professor Barboza du Bocage records it from Portugal; and the Rev. A. C. Smith states (Ibis, 

 1868, p. 435) that "it is said to be common throughout that country." In Spain, according to 

 Lord Lilford, Col. Irby, and Mr. Howard Saunders, it is common during the summer season ; 

 and Lord Lilford, who in 1866 published some excellent notes respecting the habits and 

 nidification of this Eagle, writes to me as follows : — " Since writing about this species and its 

 habits in Central Spain in ' The Ibis,' I have formed a very intimate acquaintance with it in a 

 very different part of that country, viz. the Coto de Dofiana, in May 1872, in which district we 

 found no less than sixteen nests of the Booted Eagle containing one or two eggs each. After the 

 Black Kite {Milvus migrans) this species is, I think, the most common raptorial bird of the Coto, 

 at all events in the pine-covered parts thereof." He further says in his notes in 'The Ibis' that 

 it arrives in Spain late in April. Colonel Irby informs me that many pairs nest in the cork-wood 

 near Gibraltar, but that he never observed it in the winter season; and Mr. Howard Saunders 

 states (Ibis, 1871, p. 62) that it "is more abundant in the Castiles than in Andalucia." Though 

 so common in Spain, it is of extremely rare occurrence in Italy ; and Salvadori (Fauna d'ltal. ii. 

 p. 8) records only four instances of its having been met with in that country, viz. : — one referred 

 to by Bonaparte as having been obtained near Sienna ; Durazzo speaks of a second as having 

 been obtained at Chambery; a third was obtained near Genoa in October 1863; and a fourth 

 was shot near Turin many years ago. In Greece it is recorded by Von der Miihle as rare ; 

 but Dr. Kriiper met with it breeding in Macedonia, and gives (J. f. O. 1872, pp. 59-64) 

 many details respecting its nidification and habits. In Southern Germany it is tolerably rare. 

 Dr. Anton Fritsch does not include it in his list of the birds of Bohemia ; but the Ritter von 

 Tschusi-Schmidhofen informs me that "it has frequently been obtained in Lower Austria; 

 and there are specimens in the Vienna Museum, as well as in many other, private collections. 

 According to Von Hiiber it is occasionally seen in Karnthen ; and Fiedler speaks of it as being 

 common in Sclavonia, but rarer in Croatia. Baldamus observed a pair at Orsova; and other 

 naturalists have seen it in Southern Hungary and Siebenbiirgen. Stetter found it in a valley in 

 the mountains near Rodna ; A. von Buda shot one near Halszeg about 1840 ; and Count Lazar 

 observed it at Broos, where he obtained the young birds. In Galicia it is common ; and Count 

 Wodzicki and Schauer shot many and obtained eggs and young birds." I myself found it not 

 uncommon on the Lower Danube, and frequently saw it in Servia, Wallachia, and Bulgaria. 



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