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THE SHORT-TAILED EAGLE. 



is a constant characteristic of this species ; while its manner of flying 

 is a sort of play which both the sexes practice in responsive turns. 



The short-tailed eagle hovers by sailing round, and utters, from time 

 to time, two very hoarse sounds, one an octave higher than the other. 

 Frequently it stops short, and descends a certain distance, beating the 

 air with its wings, so as to make one believe it has been winged, and is 

 ready to fall to the ground. The female in such cases never fails to 

 repeat the same manoeuvre. The flapping of their wings can be heard 

 at a great distance ; and I can compare it to nothing more appropriate 

 than the flapping of a sail which has been slackened at one corner 

 during a gale. 



I have named this bird he Baieleur, from its flapping in this manner 

 in the air, and which might be said to be displays of tumbling for the 

 amusement of spectators. These birds are very common throughout the 

 Auteniqua country, and along the coast of Natal, as far as Caffraria ; 

 and during the time that I traversed this charming region, I rarely 

 passed a day without seeing more than one pair. The male and the 

 female are always in company, and one is very rarely seen without the 

 other. 



The short tail of this species distinguishes it from all other birds of 

 prey, and the strongly marked colours assist in preventing it from 

 being confounded with any other to which it may have a resemblance. 

 It is of a middle size, between the common eagle and the osprey. Its beak 

 and claws are black ; the base of the beak is yellowish ; the legs are of 

 a yellowish brown, covered with broad scales ; the head, the neck, the 

 fore and the under parts of the body, are of a beautiful pale black, 

 sharply terminated by the deep rust red of the back and of the tail ; 

 the scapularies are blackish, and in certain lights showing a tinge of 

 bluish grey ; all the small coverts of the wings are of a fawn colour ; 

 all the quills of the wings are black on their inner barbs, embroidered 

 exteriorly with silver grey, in such a manner that when folded they 

 appear all of this colour. The eye is deep brown. The female is a 

 fourth larger than the male, and her colours are in general of a paler 

 tint. 



The short-tailed eagle builds its nest upon trees ; the female laying 

 three or four eggs entirely white ; at least, such is the information I 

 received from the colonists, never having myself seen the eggs. I have 

 shot several of the young whose colours are very different from those of 

 the adult bird, so much so that if I had not shot them when the parent 

 birds were giving them food, and if in dissecting them I had not ascer- 



