The Spotted Eagle. BIRDS. The Wedge-tailed Eagle. 2 13 
parents. These birds are said to be very long-lived, 
and one of them is recorded to have died at Vienna 
after passing no less than one hundred and four years 
in confinement. Their cry is a loud sharp scream. 
They generally retain their ferocity even after long 
captivity, seldom even showing any affection for the 
person who feeds them ; but notwithstanding this and 
the general character for intractability rvhich has been 
founded upon it, instances are on record of the recla- 
mation of the Golden eagle, even so far as to enable 
him to be used for the purposes of falconry. At the 
same time his temper seems to be rather uncertain, and 
he is by no means so desirable a favourite as the true 
falcons. 
The Golden eagle, like the lammergeyer, has been 
accused of sometimes carrying off young children to its 
nest, but as far as we are aware, none of these stories 
have been fully authenticated. Another popular notion, 
which is doubtless in some measure connected with the 
supposed regal nature of the bird, namely, that he will 
feed on nothing that he has not himself killed, is cer- 
tainly destitute of foundation; the eagle, when he pays 
an occasional visit to the shore, will feed freely upon 
dead fish, and at other times, especially in winter, he 
does not disdain carrion. Mr. M‘Gillivray states that 
he had seen several eagles hovering over a dead sheep, 
and in the Scotch islands they are often lured to their 
destruction by the exposure of the carcases of animals, 
in the vicinity of a pit or other shelter in which the 
gunner lies concealed. 
THE SPOTTED EAGLE [Aquila nmvia) is another 
European species, of which specimens have been killed 
in Britain. It is an inhabitant of the mountainous dis- 
tricts of central Europe, but extends its range south- 
ward into Egypt; it also occurs in Asia as far as 
Nepaul and Calcutta. It is considerably smaller than 
the golden eagle, being about the size of a large cock ; 
its general colour is brown, but the feathers of the legs 
and sides are spotted with white, and the quill feathers 
of the wings are terminated by whitish tips. It feeds 
on small quadrupeds and birds, and builds its nest on 
liigh trees, laying two eggs, slightly blotched with red. 
BONELLI’S EAGLE [Aquila Bonellii) an inhabitant 
of Southern Europe, is also found in Asia as far as 
India, where, however, it appears to be a rare bird. It 
is not common in Europe, where it lives in the marshy 
forests of Sardinia, Sicily, and the south of France. It 
feeds principally upon birds, and is said to be especially 
fond of ducks. In India it also inhabits wooded and 
jungly districts, sitting upon the high branches of trees 
to look out for its prey, which consists of jungle-fowl, 
partridges, and hares, and occasionally even the peacock 
falls a victim to its talons. Sometimes this eagle takes 
up its abode in the vicinity of the villages, when it 
makes fearful havoc among the domestic poultry. 
Mr. Jerdon gives the following account of the mode of 
attack adopted by a pair of these birds which haunted 
some pigeon-houses in the Neilgherries. He says, 
“ On the pigeons taking flight, one of the eagles pounced 
down from a vast height on the flock, but directing its 
swoop rather under the pigeons than directly at them. 
Its mate, watching the moment when, alarmed by the 
first swoop, the pigeons rise in confusion, pounces 
VoL. I. 32 
unerringly on one of them, and carries it off. The 
other eagle, having risen again, also makes another 
stoop, which is generally fatal.” The Indian falconers 
also, according to the same authority, have generally 
stories to relate of these eagles carrying off favourite 
hawks. 
THE TAWHY EAGLE {Aquila nceviokJes) is the 
common eagle of India, where it is known as the 
Wokhab. It is also an inhabitant of Abyssinia, and 
probably of the intervening countries. Like the pre- 
ceding species, it dwells either in the jungly districts 
or in the vicinity of towns and villages, over which it 
is frequently seen daily in company with the kites. 
Its food consists of hares and other game, but it also 
condescends to devour rats, lizards, snakes, and even 
insects, and it appears to share with the kites in any 
carrion that may fall in its way. Mr. Jerdon thinks 
that it obtains much of its food by robbing other birds 
of prey, and. he quotes a statement of Mr. Elliot’s, that 
this eagle is exceedingly troublesome to the falconers 
by pursuing the hawks for the sake of their jesses, 
which it mistakes for some kind of prey. 
THE BOOTED EAGLE [Aquila pennata) has the 
feet feathered down to the toes, the plumage of the 
back brown, and that of the lower parts white, marked 
with narrow brown lines. It is the smallest of the true 
eagles found in Europe, measuring only about twenty 
inches in length. It occurs principally in the eastern 
parts of Europe, and, like the preceding species, is an 
inhabitant of India. In its appearance and mode of 
flight it resembles the kite, and, like that bird, it is said 
to be a “ noted robber of the dove-cot and poultry 
yard.” 
THE IMPERIAL EAGLE [Aquila imperialis), which 
is also common to Europe and Asia, and yields only to 
the golden eagle in size, abounds particiflarly in Turkey, 
Egypt, and the north of Africa. It inhabits the hilly 
districts, and when in search of prey, flies slowly along 
at no great elevation, hunting over the bushj^ vallies 
and ravines. It is said by Mr. Jerdon to strike fre- 
quently at game raised by sportsmen. 
THE WEDGE-TAILED EAGLE [Aquila fucosa) is a 
native of Australia and Van Diemen’s Land, where it 
evidently takes the place of the golden eagle of Europe, 
to which it is scarcely inferior in size. A specimen killed 
by Mr. Gould measured six feet eight inches from tip 
to tip of the wings, and he considers this to be far 
from the largest bird of this species which had come 
under his notice. The wedge-tailed eagle frequents 
the interior of the country, and like its northern ana- 
logue, the golden eagle, rarely makes its appearance on 
the coast. .. It preys principally on the smaller species 
of kangaroos and also on the large Australian bustard ; 
and in the districts inhabited by the European settlers 
it is so destructive to the young lambs, that the shep- 
herds wage with it a war of extermination. It will 
also devour offals and carrion; for the former it will 
follow the kangaroo-hunters for days, and Mr. Gould 
states, that in one of his journies he saw no less than 
thirty or forty of these birds assembled round the car- 
case of a dead bullock, some sitting in a gorged state 
upon the neighbourmg trees, while others were still 
enjoying the feast. 
