Common Birds of Western Himalayas 



THE FALCONID^ OR FAMILY OF BIRDS 

 OF PREY 



First and foremost of the Falconidse are the 

 eagles. Let me preface what little I have to say- 

 about these birds with the remark that I am 

 unable to set forth any characteristics whereby 

 a novice may recognise an eagle when he sees 

 one on the wing. The reader should disabuse 

 his mind of the idea he may have obtained 

 from the writings of the poets of the grandeur 

 of the eagle. Eagles may be, and doubtless 

 often are, mistaken for kites. They are simply 

 rather large falcons. They are mostly coloured 

 very like the kite. 



All true eagles have the leg feathered to 

 the toe. I give this method of diagnosis for 

 what it is worth, and that is, I fear, not very 

 much, because eagles as a rule do not willingly 

 afford the observer an opportunity of inspect- 

 ing their tarsi. 



The eagles most commonly seen in the 

 Himalayas are the imperial eagle (^Aquila helica), 

 the booted eagle {Hieraetus fennatus), Bonelli's 

 eagle (Hieraetus fasciatus), the changeable hawk- 

 eagle (Spiza'e'tus limnaetus), and Hodgson's 

 hawk-eagle (S-piza'etus nepalenssis). 



93 



