EXPERIENCES WITH EAGLES. 191 



A magnificent pair they were : their sable-black plumage 

 glossy with purplish iridescent sheen and with snow- 

 white shoulders. On the occiput a patch of pale gold, 

 the crown being black. The feet and cere of this species 

 are pale lemon-yellow ; the irides golden, finely reticulated 

 with hazel. 



This eyry contained two eaglets, clad in white down. 

 We have since had many opportunities of observing the 

 breeding habits of this species on the wooded plains of 

 Andalucia and Estremadura. The eggs, usually three in 

 number, are mostly white, more or less splashed or 

 spotted with faint evanescent reddish or brown shades, 

 and are laid about the middle of March. The nests of 

 the Imperial Eagle are about four feet across, and 

 invariably placed on the extreme summit of a tall tree — ■ 

 cork-oak or pine — all projecting twigs being broken off so 

 as to offer no obstruction to the sitting bird's view. The 

 nests are flat, lined with fresh twigs and green pine- 

 needles, and all around and beneath lie strewn the skulls 

 of hares and rabbits — a perfect Golgotha. We have also 

 seen the remains of Partridge, Stone-Curlew, Mallard, and 

 wildfowl, but never those of reptiles. These large nests 

 are most difficult to get into ; their position affording no 

 hand-hold above, and from the extent to which they over- 

 hang, access can only be obtained by a manoeuvre analogous 

 to scaling the futtock-shrouds of an old line-of-battle ship. 



The Imperial Eagle is exclusively confined to the 

 plains — we have never seen it in the mountains : its 

 prey consists almost entirely of rabbits and partridge : it 

 is also said to kill bustards, but this we think improbable, 

 though the bird, no doubt, is powerful enough. Its 

 hunting-grounds are the arid, barren dehesas and cistus- 

 wastes — it is not seen on the cornlands frequented by 

 bustard. The adults are recognizable at a long distance by 

 their black plumage and snow-white epaulets — majestic 

 birds of massive, powerful appearance. One also sees on 

 the plains other large and powerful eagles of a rich tawny- 

 chestnut colour — very handsome objects as they sit in the 

 sunshine on some lofty pine. 



