118 le vaillant's natural history 



NATURAL HISTORY OF THE BIRDS OF AFRICA. 



TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH OF LE VAILLANT. 



THE WHITE GOS EAGLE (Morphnus albescens, Ctjvier.) 



Le Blanchard, Le Vaill. Ois d'Afrique, pi. 3.p. 12. Falco albescens, Lath. Ind. Orn. 

 Sup p iv. Daud. ii.45. Shaw's Zool. vii. 98. Noisy Eagle, Lath. Gen. Syn. Sup. 

 ii. p. 21. Id. Geu. Hist. i. p. 143. Cuvier, Regne Anim. I. 331, Note. Drapiez, 

 Diet. Classique, 1. 162. 



If intrepidity and courage are the moral characters which distin- 

 guish eagles from other birds of prey, this bird is as much an eagle 

 as that which I have above described under the name of the Griffard: 

 he is the tyrant of all the larger birds which inhabit the same district, 

 — a true despot, who, abusing his power, wages war against all who 

 surround him, and immolates all who approach him. Destined to 

 make birds his prey, nature has endowed him with great facility of 

 flight j a very long tail serves admirably to direct his course with 

 quickness, and accommodate it to the frequent and sudden veerings 

 of the birds who seek to escape his talons : a rapid zigzag flight, 

 which, almost always, enables them to escape from" every other 

 bird of prey, becomes useless when pursued by the White Gos Eagle. 

 It is while in pursuit of wood pigeons that I have had most oc- 

 casion to admire the address of this eagle ; he seems indeed to 

 prefer to hunt those birds whose flight is the most rapid and irregu- 



