196 



WILD SPAIN. 



toe appears to have four scutellae, against six (one rudi^ 

 mentary) in A. adalberti ,■ tail above uniform dark brown. 

 In captivity it was much noisier, and more nonchalant, than 

 the Imperial.. 



As already mentioned, we have observed these rich- 

 coloured tawny eagles on many occasions during the 

 winter months. The forest-guards distinguish them from 

 the young Imperial Eagles, saying they were most 

 numerous in winter. Casual observation is not, of course, 

 of much value on fine points, and we give their opinion for 

 what it may be worth. The late Crown Prince Eudolph of 

 Austria also appears to have found a tawny eagle nesting 

 in Andalucia (" Sport and Ornithology," p. 491), but did 

 not secure the birds. 



It seems probable that a large tawny-coloured eagle — 

 whether the African^, rapax, or otherwise- — does breed in 

 Southern Spain, though sporadically both as to time and 

 place, the wooded districts around Cordova being the 

 most likely locality. 



So far, with slight modifications, we have left this 

 chapter as written some little time ago ; but, since then, 

 we have had further eagle-experiences (in the spring of 

 1891), which throw some new light on the vexed ques- 

 tions referred to. For we have now placed beyond doubt 

 the fact that the Spanish Imperial Eagle does breed in — 

 what is considered to be — its "immature" dress; but 

 which would probably be more correctly expressed by say- 

 ing that individuals of this species never develope that 

 black-and-white plumage which has hitherto been regarded 

 as the invariable adult state. 



On February 26th we heard of an eagle's nest at a spot 

 called the Algaida del Gato, and were assured that, while 

 the female-owner was black — de las negras — her male 

 partner was pardo, i.e., tawny. The date, it may be noted, 

 is just a month earlier than we had imagined these birds 

 usually breed ; but on the 28th February this nest cer- 

 tainly contained two white eggs ; and, as certainly, the 

 male eagle was tawny : his partner an ordinary black- 



