508 



moulted feathers, blackish brown ; primaries at the base above the emargination blackish, mottled with 

 greyish, the terminal portion of the feathers, below the emargination, being blackish brown, secondaries 

 blackish brown, marbled on the inner web with greyish, some having scarcely perceptible light tips ; 

 wing-coverts similar to the back, but some have indistinct light margins ; rump dull brown, most of 

 the feathers with dull pale fulvous margins ; upper tail-coverts white, slightly marked with brown, the 

 lateral ones washed with pale rufous ; tail blackish brown, marbled with ashy grey, this marbling 

 forming indistinct bars, tip of the tail very narrowly edged with light brown ; under surface of the 

 body dull earth-brown, much paler on the lower abdomen, which has a rufous shade ; under tail-coverts 

 dull creamy brown, with a slight rufous tinge ; under wing-coverts slightly washed with rufous, the 

 lowest series white, slightly marbled with dusty grey ; cere and gape pale yellow ; bill bluish horn ; 

 feet pale yellow; iris brown. Total length about 31 inches, culmen 2"7, height of culmen at base 1"1, 

 wing 23-0, tail 11-75, tarsus 3'8, middle toe without claw 23. 



Adult Male (Volga, May) . Resembles the female, but has the head, chin, and throat lighter in colour, the 

 throat, sides of the head, and nape being pale sandy brown ; the wing-coverts are darker in colour, 

 evidently more recently moulted; and the upper tail-coverts have broad brown tips. In size it is 

 smaller than the female, measuring only — culmen 2'4, height of culmen at base TO, wing 20 - 5, tail 10'7, 

 tarsus 3 - 7, middle toe without claw 2 - l. 



Young Male (Volga, 31st July). Upper and underparts uniform dark earth-brown, with a faint purplish 

 tinge, rather paler on the chin and lower abdomen, and darker on the crown ; upper tail-coverts bright 

 ochraceous fawn ; quills as in the adult, but primaries very slightly tipped, and the secondaries broadly 

 terminated with rich reddish cream or ochraceous fawn ; primary coverts and larger wing-coverts also 

 similarly terminated, the median coverts only here and there having these light tips ; tail as in the 

 adult, but broadly terminated with dull rufescent ochraceous ; under wing-coverts dark earth-brown, 

 here and there tipped with creamy rufous ; under tail-coverts dull rufescent ochraceous. 



A young bird which could only have just left the nest, the tail being quite short, resembles the above; but the 

 upper parts have a more distinct purplish tinge, and the rufescent ochraceous markings are much more 

 clearly defined, the inner secondaries having the entire centre of the terminal third of the feather 

 rufescent-ochre, and some of the lesser wing-coverts being also tipped with this colour; on the lower 

 part of the abdomen some of the feathers have narrow white tips ; and the short tail has a very broad 

 light-rufescent-ochraceous tip. 



Obs. A specimen from the Bosphorus, evidently an old bird, differs in being generally darker in plumage, 

 the crown being much darker, and the nape rusty yellow, and has likewise the upper tail-coverts 

 uniform dark brown. Another adult bird from India resembles this specimen, but has the upper tail- 

 coverts yellowish white, barred and tipped with dark brown. 



This species may always be distinguished from the Spotted Eagles by having a vertical and not a round 

 nostril. 



Readers of the various periodicals in which recent ornithological essays have been published will 

 well understand the extreme difficulty in denning the precise range of the present species ; for by 

 some ornithologists it has been confused with the Imperial Eagle, whereas others have considered 

 it to be a form or race of the Spotted Eagle, and it has been referred to by such an infinity of 

 names, most frequently without any description by which it could be recognized, that it is often 

 impossible to trace whether the Imperial Eagle, the Spotted Eagle, or the present species is referred 

 to. As a rule the Indian ornithologists have referred it to the Imperial Eagle ; whereas, on the 



