314 AVES-ORDER ACCIPITRIFORMES. 



Himalayas it is by no means uncommon. I have myself more than once 

 seen one of these magnificent birds flying over within 30 yds. of my head, 

 and turning his head down from side to side, taking stock of everything 

 below him. His pale yellow eye, which is surrounded by a red ring, and 

 his bearded chin were plainly seen. The flight of a Laemmergeier is 

 grand in the extreme. The bird, however, has many of the habits of a 

 Scavenger Vulture, and resembles Neophron in some of its ways, though it 

 does not seem to be such a foul feeder. The species has been known to follow 

 camps, and it is not infrequently to be met with in the neighbourhood of 

 villages in the north-western Himalayas and Tibet. Not only in the 

 Mediterranean countries, but in the Himalayas also, the bird is known as 

 the "bone-breaker," and it undoubtedly has the curious habit of devouring 

 bones. Von Tschudi says that five bullock's ribs 2 in. thick and from 6 to 9 

 in. long, a lump of hair, and the leg of a young goat, from the knee to the 

 foot, were found in the stomach of one of these Bearded Eagles, while in 

 another the large hip-bone of a cow, the skin and fore-quarters of a chamois, 

 many smaller bones, etc., were discovered. It is also said to drive the 

 chamois and goats over the precipices, and devour the bodies when they 

 have fallen below. The weak feet and claws of the Lsemmergeier are 

 vulturine, and not like those of True Eagles, and it is certain that the bird 

 could not capture any large prey with its talons. Its method of breaking 

 the bones which it delights in, is to take them up in the air to a great 

 height and then let them drop on a rock, and it was doubtless in this way 

 that jEschylus was killed more than 2000 years ago, an "Eagle," ie., a 

 Lsemmergeier, having dropped a Tortoise on his bald head, mistaking the 

 latter for a rock. "Marrow bones," says Mr. Hudleston, "are the dainties the 

 Lsemmergeier loves the best ; and when the other Vultures have picked the 

 flesh off any animal, he comes in at the end of the feast and swallows the 

 bones, or breaks them and swallows the pieces, if he cannot get the marrow 

 out otherwise. I once saw a mature bird of this species which had evidently 

 swallowed a bone, or something uncommonly indigestible, close to the 

 abattoir at Athens. He was in a very uncomfortable attitude, and appeared 

 to be leaning on his long tail for support." A second species of Lfemmergeier 

 {Gypaetus ossifragus) is found in the mountains of North-Eastern Africa. 



We now come to the true Eagles (Aquila) of which our Golden Eagle is the 

 type, while the Bearded Eagles are connected with the typical Eagles by means 

 of the Wedge-tailed Eagle of Australia ( Uroaetus audax), a bird which has 

 the aspect of a true Eagle, but has at the same time the wedge-shaped tail 

 of a Lsemmergeier. 



In this genus occur some of the beat-known Birds of Prey, such aa the 



Golden Eagle { Aquila chrysaetus), the Imperial Eagle (A. hdiaca), the 



Tawny Eagle (A. rapax), and the Spotted Eagle (i. 



The True Eagles. — macidata). When on the wing it cannot be denied that the 



Genua Arjuila. Eagles are birds of magnificent appearance, and I have 

 seen nothing grander in my experience of bird-life than 

 'a pair of Eagles circling above the Himalayas and screaming in proteat 

 against an approaching storm, as it made its way up the valley. On 

 the other hand, in many ways Eagles are little more than large Buzzards, 

 and a great deal of unnecessary romance has been shed around them. Of 

 the Imperial Eagle, Mr. A. O. Hume writes that he considers it no better 

 than a great hulking Kite. In India, he says, it is an ignoble feeder, and he 

 has generally found the birds gorged with carrion. After a good meal, they 



