Birds of Gambia. 
13 
Aquila icdiilberffi. 
Ranffe. Tropical Africa. 
Olio occasionally sees a brown Eagle which may be this 
species. 
Eutohnaelus bellieosus. MARTIAL EAGLE. 
Rangie. South and East Africa, North to Shia, Abyssinia and 
Bogk)sland. (H.L.) 
This large handsome Eagle is only a rare bird in the Gam- 
bia. I can only remember seeing three since I have been here, 
one of which, the female of a pair, I shot at McCarthy Island 
in January, 1906. Their general colour above is grey brown, 
the tail barred with darker and • tipped with white; l)el()W white 
slightly spotted with brown. The head has a distinct blunt crest. 
Length 3o inches. Although rare here they are wiell known to 
the natives under the name of " Watta," and are reputed by them 
to be most blood-tiiirsty birds and very dangerous to sheep and 
young calves. 
Spizaettts coromitus. CROWNED HAWK-EAGLE. 
Range. South and West Africa. (H.L.) 
Rare in the Gambia. A big crested Eagle, whose plumage 
is mostly black, washed on the neck and breast with brown, and 
with white edges to the crest feathers. Length 36 inches. Tbe 
lirst example of this Eagle I met with was one which I saw at 
McCarthy (and identified with a glass) as it was attacking on 
the ground and endeavouring to carry ofT a large Monitor, a feat 
in which it was only interrupted by the arrival of my boys on 
the scene and their futile attempt to capture the pair while still 
engaged in the struggle. The only other one I have seen was 
caught in the Upper Gambia, and brought home this year (1910) 
by Mr. Fenwick Owen, to the Zoo, where it is now. 
Lophoaetus ■occipitalis. BLACK CRESTED EAGLE. 
Ramg^. Tropical Africa. (H.L.) 
An almost wholly black (or in young birds a very dark 
brown) moderately sized Eagle with a long narrow crest, the only 
parts not black are four or five whitish cross-bars on the tail, 
a patch of white on the basal portion of the primaries and a 
brown wash over the under parts. The iris is brown, the beak 
black, the cere and legs a pale yellow. Length 23 inches. This 
Eagle is quite a common bird here, a pair or single individual 
is generally to be seen in every swamp perched on some low 
tree on the look-out for frogs, etc., which form their main food. 
Helotarsus ecaudatus. BATALEUR EAGLE. 
Range. Tropical Africa. (H.L.) 
The Bataleurs are very common hei'e and nearly every day 
up country one may see one or more soaring and wheeling high 
overhead, when they are always easily recognisable at near range 
by their short tails and red legs, or when further off and merely 
black outlines against the clear sky, by, their rolling flight and 
