136 A PRACTICAL HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS. 



buff centres, feathers of under-parts sometimes with narrower 

 buff centres but sometimes as juvenile ; tail and wing-feathers 

 with shorter buff tips. 



Second summer. — (When bird is two to two and a half years 

 old). Pale centred feathers confined to some longer scapulars, 

 some wing-coverts, and lower-breast where pale centres are small, 

 rump, belly and tibia where they are still usually broad ; tail and 

 wing -feathers with short buff tips. 



Third summer. — (When bird is three to three and a half years 

 old). Like adult but with a few feathers on rump and tibia with 

 narrow buff centres at tip and under tail-coverts with varying 

 amount of buff and dark brown. At the next moult, i.e. when 

 bird is four to four and a half years old, it appears to become adult, 

 but not enough moulting specimens are available to make quite 

 certain of the sequences. 



An individual variety ("A.fidvescens ") has upper-parts orange- 

 buff with tips of feathers whitish and those* of mantle with some 

 brown in centre, scapulars with more brown (some have upper- 

 parts mostly brown) ; under-parts uniform salmon-buff, sometimes 

 with dark shaft-streaks to feathers of fore-part of crown, chin and 

 throat. 



Measurements and structure — q wing 49-53 cm., tail 220- 

 255 mm., tarsus 100-115, bill from cere 33-39 (12 measured). 

 $ wing 50-55 cm., bill 34-40 mm. Primaries : 4th longest, 5th and 

 6th as long or 5-15 mm. shorter, 3rd sometimes as long but usually 

 10-20 shorter, 2nd 25-50 shorter, 7th 40-55 (sometimes 70-75) 

 shorter, 1st between 8th and 9th but sometimes between 7th and 

 8th ; 2nd to 7th emarginated outer webs, 1st to 6th abruptly 

 emarginated and attenuated on inner webs. Nostrils round, 

 otherwise rest of structure as Golden Eagle. 



Soft parts. — Bill horn-brown, bluish-grey at base ; cere and 

 toes yellow ; iris brown. 



Characters and allied forms. — No subspecies. A. pomarina 

 (north Germany, Russia, Austria, Balkans, Greece, Caucrsus) is 

 like A. clanga, but adult is paler especially on crown, wing-coverts 

 and under-parts, juvenile and. immature birds have considerably 

 smaller pale streaks especially on upper-parts than in A. clanga of 

 same age ; wing-formula slightly different, 3rd being frequently 

 as long as 4th and 5th, 6th usually 10-20 mm. shorter, 2nd 15-40 

 shorter, 7th 65-80 shorter, 1st longer than 8th or occasionally 

 equal to it, 7th not clearly emarginated on outer web ; size usually 

 smaller, $ wing 45.5-49 cm., tail 210-245 mm., tarsus 90-100, bill 

 27-33. ? wing 46-51 cm., bill 29-34 mm. As measurements and 

 wing-formula of the two species intergrade care must be taken 

 to examine all the characters. 



Field -characters. — Large dark brown bird, young with light 

 spots. When flying distinguished from Buzzard by tips of wings 



