283 
Ornithology of Northern Africa. 
adult hue, or the bird of the snowy peaks of the Alps may become 
assimilated in colour, while in the Sahara he reflects the pre¬ 
vailing tints around him. The Lammergeyer's favourite food 
(: reptilia ) abounds in the Desert, and his rare occurrence at any 
distance from the mountains is therefore the more remarkable, 
unless it be that he is more loath than the Griffon to exercise the 
powers of flight which he certainly possesses. The Lammer- 
geyer is, by comparison with the Griffon, a stupid bird, as well 
as an unsociable one; rarely more than two or three are seen 
together. But in its flight it is the most majestic of birds: sail¬ 
ing like a Falcon, he will skim for miles without any perceptible 
motion of the wings, stilly gliding through space till lost to the 
telescope; then, returning, he will turn the sharp corner of a 
cliff in the gorge, just bending his long cuneate tail, one wing 
gently drawn-in like the Falcon's, and as gently again expanded. 
5. Aquila chrysaetos. (Golden Eagle.) 
I never observed this bird in any of the cliffs by the ‘ Weds' 
or mountain ranges of the Desert; but in the Dayats it abounds. 
It might almost be said to be gregarious, especially in the 
Dayat of Tirehmet, a day's journey north of Berryan in the 
M'zab. The wood here extends over many acres; and I saw no 
less than seven pairs of Golden Eagles, who had each their nest. 
There were many other unoccupied nests; in fact, there were 
few Terebinths of any size without a huge platform of sticks on 
the topmost boughs. Many of the smaller Dayats were tenanted 
in like proportions. Any zealous oologist might collect in this 
region the eggs of 50 nests in a month, could he obtain a suf¬ 
ficient supply of water to enable him to remain; but the neces¬ 
sity of sending a four days' journey for water may preserve this 
colony undisturbed for many years to come. The Gazelles and 
Sand-grouse who resort to the Dayats are probably a sufficient 
supply for the Eagles and Kites who reside here, and the im¬ 
possibility of finding other nesting-places may render the Eagles 
less tenacious of their domains. Being undisturbed, they are 
very fearless; and I twice walked under a tree and brought 
down a fine specimen with No. 7 shot. 
6. Circaetus gallicus. (The Short-toed Eagle.) 
This Eagle came only once under my observation in the De- 
