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" For as long as six weeks this continued, and we began to despair, till on the evening of 

 April 2nd, when, at a Tartar village where we were to sleep, a great Eagle flapped off a nest on 

 a stunted willow not a hundred yards from the house. One of us was very soon up, and found 

 a beautiful egg covered with blotches of lilac and red, quite the finest we ever took. After this 

 we found them frequently in isolated trees or bushes in the open country, only once in a wood. 

 The nests are moderately large and flat, well lined with wool and rubbish, and contain from one 

 to three eggs, which are usually much less marked and blotched than those of the Golden Eagle. 



" The male bird takes his turn at incubation, while the female goes in search of food ; and 

 they sometimes leave the nest entirely for some time. The young are hatched at the end of 

 April or beginning of May, and do not remain in the country very long, as we never observed an 

 Imperial Eagle in immature plumage during the whole of our journey. In the evening these 

 Eagles roost with Kites and Falcons in clumps of trees in the open country ; and by waiting at 

 these places just before dark we could always obtain specimens, as there were often six or seven 

 in one tree." 



Regarding its breeding-habits in India, Mr. A. O. Hume, in his ' Eough Notes,' writes that 

 " I noticed above that this species only breed in the plains of India in the far north-west ; but 

 I once had reason to think that occasional stragglers may nest lower down country, even in the 

 plains. On the 5th of February, 1867, my head stuffer at Etawah returned with a male Imperial 

 Eagle and an egg (white, a rather dull coarse texture, with barely perceptible, faint, yellowish 

 streaks and spots, and a few tiny darker specks) measuring 263 by 2 - 06, which he professed to 

 have obtained as follows : — He saw a female imperialis sitting on a nest on a large Peepul tree ; 

 as he approached she flew off; he fired at her, but failed to bring her down. He then hid at the 

 foot of the tree and waited. After some time the male returned, and, finding the nest empty, 

 settled on it, when he shot him. The nest, which I afterwards examined, was some two feet in 

 diameter, lined with leaves and the feathers of Wild Geese and Ducks. My reasons for some- 

 what doubting this account are, 1st, my stuffer's general want of veracity ; 2nd, our never having 

 met with any other examples of this species breeding so low down ; 3rd, my finding, when I 

 visited the nest fifteen days later, a Snake-Eagle (Circaetus gallicus) sitting near it. At the same 

 time it must be noted that I was then particularly anxious to find a Snake-Eagle's nest, none of 

 which I had then taken, and that it is very improbable that, had my stuffer found a nest of that 

 bird, he would knowingly have represented it as belonging to any other ; he might make a 

 mistake ; but, born and bred a fowler, he very rarely blundered, though he often lied. On the 

 whole, the balance of probabilities were in favour of the authenticity of the egg, which, however, 

 in common with all other suspected specimens, I long ago threw away. 



" In the high tableland of Southern India and the Neilgherries this Eagle doubtless breeds. 

 Jerdon mentions having seen a nest in a lofty tree in the Dekhan ; but of its nidification there I 

 have received no detailed account." 



Twelve eggs of this Eagle in my collection, all obtained by Mr. C. Farman in Bulgaria, vary 

 in size from 2f^ by 2-^g- inches to 3 by 2^§ and 3^% by 2^- inches, and are white or dull whitish 

 in colour generally, but slightly clouded with pale purplish red or blotched with pale rufous ; 

 three, however, are blotched with rufous almost as much as ordinary eggs of the Golden Eagle ; 

 and, on the other hand, six are almost pure white. All these eggs were taken out of nests built 



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