BLUE NILE AND DINDER RIVER 327 
their kind obtained in the Sudan since the reconquest. 
Dimensions:— 
Weight. 
Length. 
Expanse. 
Male (adult) . 
. . ij ib. 
20 ins. 
48 ins. 
Female „ 
• 2,, 
2ii „ 
48 m 
River-Eagle {Haliaetus vocifer). — Common everywhere. 
Male 4J lb., female 6J lb. Feet very pale yellow; cere and 
bare face yellow. Irides hazel ; beak dark-horn. 
White-footed Eagle (. Aquila albipes , ut supra, p. no).— 
Common on the wooded plains. Several shot between Blue 
Nile and Dinder. This is the eagle which experts identify 
with Aq. rapax in its dark phase. I cannot agree, and have 
therefore given it the above provisional title for convenience 
meanwhile. Irides pale yellow. 
Wahlberg’s Eagle (. Aquila wahlbergi ). — This must surely 
be only a smaller edition of the last; for, though we shot one 
on the Dinder River, I did not notice any difference beyond a 
slight crest and its smaller size—weight under 3 lb. against 
4J lb. in Albipes. Our specimen is the first obtained in the 
Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. 
Tawny Eagle {Aquila rapax). — The commonest and most 
widely distributed of the true eagles of Africa—alike on moun¬ 
tain or wooded plain—but always eschewing Europe. We met 
with it not only all over the Sudan, but wherever we have 
travelled on the African Continent. Though of compact eagle- 
build, and habitually killing its own game, yet the tawny eagle 
is never averse to act the part of a scavenger, constantly attend¬ 
ing camps and “ kills,” and content to share a carrion-feast with 
the vultures. This character alone (in my view) suffices to 
distinguish the tawny eagle from the white-footed forest-eagle 
{Aquila albipes ) just mentioned, which disdains such orgies. 
The tawny eagle is subject to great individual colour-variation, 
our Sudan specimens including many of these gradations. 
Main specific characters are (1) the long tail, usually plain; 
and (2) the short powerful legs which, in the flesh, barely reach 
beyond base of tail. Between December and April we found 
several nests, all in trees, and the completed clutch numbered 
three eggs—dull white, sparsely spotted. One eyry was built 
