486 



c 



those I found in Spain being placed on the latter ; but Lord Lilford says that those he found 

 were frequently placed on a pine. In 'The Ibis' for 1866 his Lordship gives some details 

 respecting the nidification of this Eagle, find figures the eggs; and he now writes to me as 

 follows : — " We soon became able to distinguish the nests of this bird from those of the Kite, as 

 they are smaller, more compact, and generally, though not always, placed close to the trunk of 

 the tree, just where the first large branches diverge from it. The bird sits very close, and on 

 being scared from the nest almost invariably dashes down to within a foot or two of the ground, 

 often escaping in this manner, on account of the danger of firing with a party of five or six 

 people scattered about the undulating sand-hills of which the greater part of the'Coto consists. 

 Every nest contained a few fresh green pine twigs." He also observes that the flight of this 

 Eagle differs much from that of the Buzzard, so that it cannot well be mistaken for it ; and he 

 further remarks on its cry, which he says is as unlike the wail of a Buzzard as possible ; and I 

 can from my own experience fully confirm these statements. Mr. Howard Saunders (Ibis, 1871, 

 p. 62) says that he " invariably found it nesting in trees, lining its nest with green boughs, 

 generally of the white elm. It is a very fearless bird, sitting remarkably close ; and this year a 

 female at which I had had a snap shot, returned to her nest within a quarter of an hour, although 

 Agapo was engaged at a Kite's nest within 150 yards. I was, of course, lying in wait, and easily 

 obtained her on putting her off the nest a second time." 



When at Madrid in 1866, I took a trip, in company with Manuel de la Torre, to Castellejo 

 on the 15th May, in order to take the nest of the Booted Eagle, and subsequently published 

 some notes on its nidification, which I may in part reproduce here, as follows : — " Manuel took 

 me to the nest of Aquila pennata from which Lord Lilford procured his first eggs of this bird ; but 

 as it showed no signs of being tenanted we did not attempt to climb the tree. 



" Not far distant from this tree we found a nest of the Black Kite (Milvus migrans), from 

 which we scared the bird, and therefore had reason to suppose that it contained something, 

 probably eggs. However, the tree was one which promised such an amount of hard work that 

 neither of us considered a couple of eggs of Milvus migrans a sufficient inducement to attempt 

 to climb it. We therefore proceeded to force our way through the rank undergrowth, keeping 

 a good look-out for nests, and before long were rewarded by seeing a large nest which Manuel 

 thought looked like that of a Booted Eagle. I carried only a walking-stick gun, for the benefit 

 of the Warblers, Sparrows, &c. ; so Manuel posted himself close to the tree with his gun cocked, 

 and I proceeded to kick the tree by way of giving the tenant of the nest notice to quit. I had 

 not to kick long ; for the next moment a large bird flew off the nest and was instantly knocked 

 over by Manuel. It fell into a large bramble brake, into which we had some trouble to penetrate, 

 but on doing so found a splendid female Booted Eagle, which, being only winged, showed fight, 

 and gave us some trouble before we secured it. 



" Having secured our bird, we proceeded to examine the tree, which I had to climb, having 

 agreed with Manuel that I should take the first and he the second. The tree was a huge and 

 very high white elm, almost too thick to climb up ; and there was not a bough of any sort for a 

 great height from the ground. Not getting much consolation from looking at the tree, I stripped 

 to my shirt and trowsers and proceeded to go up. At first I mounted with great difficulty, the 

 tree being so thick ; but making use of the old knots, &c, I managed to get up until I could 



