F A L c o. m 
notes of all birds thus reduced to a mufical fcale. Thefe 
rotes, it is to be obferved,are only uttered while the bird 
json the wing; not when hovering overany thing,but while 
fkimming the air with complacency and felf-fatisfaclion, 
and without that exertion and contortion attending the 
cry we mentioned before : at this time his voice is really 
pleafing and fonorous, without any of that raucous tone 
which didinguifhes birds of prey in general. 
The male and female are generally together, and par¬ 
take in the mod friendly manner of each other’s prey. 
Their airie is on the tops of trees or among rocks ; it re- 
fembles that of the griffard, except that it is lined with 
foft fubft'ances, as feathers, wool, &c. on which are laid 
three white eggs, like a turkey’s, but larger. The colo- 
nifts at the Cape call this eagle grade vis-vanger , great 
fifher-bird ; or witte vis-vanger, white fifher-bird. This 
fpecies is not common, however, near the Cape ; Vaillant 
heard its cry but once in Falfe-bay ; at (ixty or eighty 
leagues didance they begin to be more plentiful; but 
they are mod numerous about Lagoa-hay. It mull be 
known alfo in Nigritia; for by the defcription this mnft 
b'e the eagle called by Gaby the nun. “ It has (fays he) 
the habit of a carmelite, with his white fcapulary.” 
This fhort notice certainly agrees better with the noify 
eagle than with the bald buzzard, to which it is referred, 
very injudicioufly, by BufFon. 
42. Falco Antillarum, the eagle of the Antilles. Body 
brown, belly white, crown black. Inhabits the Wed In¬ 
dies ; is only eighteen inches long. This fpecies, called 
m'ansfeni, is a drong bird of prey, which in its form and 
plumage bears fo great a refemblance to the eagle, that 
its diminutive fize is the only mark of difcrimination, for 
it is fcarcely bigger than the falcon, though its claws are 
twice as large, and dronger. Though thus well-armed, 
it generally attacks only defencelefs birds ; as the thrudies 
and the fea-larks ; or, if more adventurous, the ring-doves 
and turtles : it feeds alfo on ferpents and fmall lizards. 
It perches commonly on the mod lofty trees : its feathers 
are fo drong, and fo compacted, that unlefs we fire oppo- 
lite their pofition, the diot will not penetrate. 
43. Falco Sinenfi’s, the Chinefe eagle. Cere and legs 
yellow ; body above brown, beneath yellowidi. Bill and 
claws large, black ; irids brown; crown dufky; middle 
Ih'ipe of the wings dark. Inhabits India and China. 
44. Falco Cheela, the Cheela eagle. Head fiightly 
creded , body brown ; wing-coverts (potted with white ; 
rump white; tail with a broad white band. Bill blue ; 
irids and legs yellow. Inhabits India. This and the fol¬ 
lowing are added by Dr. Turtou, from Smellie’s edition 
of BufFon, vol. ix. p. 426. 
45. Falco Afiaticus, the Afiatic eagle. Legs yellow, 
half downy; body brown above, white beneath 1 ; bread 
(Leaked ; tail-feathers filver-grey, external ones with five 
pale bands. Twenty-one inches long. Bill black; quili- 
fe’athers grey with black bands ; upper tail-covertS white ; 
legs downy on the fbre-part. Inhabits China. 
46. Falco Novse Ho'llandiae, the New-Holland eagle. 
Body white ; cere and legs yellow ; hind claw twice as 
long as the fore. Twenty inches long ; orbitsyellow. In¬ 
habits New-Holland. 
47. Falco Urubitinga, the Brafilian eagle. Cere and 
legs yellow ; body brown ; wings blackifh mixed with ci- 
ne.teous; tail white, the tip black fpeckled with white. 
Size of a half-grown duck. Bill thick, black ; eyes large. 
Inhabits Brafil. 
48. Falco Ponticerianus, the Pondicherry eagle. Cere 
bliiilh ; legs yellow; body chednut'; head, neck, and 
bread white ; a longitudinal brown line in the middle of 
all the feathers. One foot feven inches long. Inhabits 
India. B Vi don defcribes this Ead-Indian bird very accu¬ 
rately. It is only about half the bulk of the common 
eagle, and refembles the ofprey in the colour of the cere, 
which is bluifh ; but its feet are not blue as in that bird, 
nor yellow as in the erne. It is probably the mod re¬ 
markable bird of prey on the Malabar cbad, (dice the na¬ 
tives make-an idol of it, to which they pay adoration; but 
the beauty of its plumage, ratherthan itsbulk or drength, 
merits'this honour. It is undoubtedly; the mod elegant 
of the rapacious tribe. Salerne fays, “ it is as beautiful 
as it is rare. Its head, neck, and the Whole of its bread, 
are covered with exceedingly white feathers, longer than 
broad, the draft and edge of which are of a fine jet black. 
The red of the body is of a fliining chednut, lighter be¬ 
neath the wing's than above ; the fix fird wing-feathers 
are black at the end ; the cere bluidi ; the tip of the bill 
yellow, verging on green ; the feet yellow ; the nails 
black. It has a piercing 1 look, and is of the bulk of the 
falcon. It is a fort of divinity wordiippedby the Indians. 
It occurs alfo in the kingdom of Vifapour, and in the 
territories of the Great Mogul. 
49. Falco aequinoftialis, the equinoftial eagle. Legs 
yellow ; head, neck, and back, dark-brown ; bread red- 
difh ; wing-coverts and fhoulders chocolate ; tail black ; 
the feathers*, except the two middle ones, marked with 
the letter V in white. Twenty-one inch.es long. Bill pale ; 
claws pale tipt with black. Inhabits Cayenne. 
50. Falco capillamentus, the tufted eagle. This is a 
fmall fpecies-. It has a tuft long and didinft, hanging 
down five or fix inches behind : it (lopes gracefully to¬ 
wards the neck; but is fo flexible, that it is agitated by 
the wind into a thoufand agreeable forms. This tuft has 
occafioned the fpecific name : Vaillant calls it le huppard. 
This bird has the charadteriflic of the eagles, courage and 
drength ; it lives modly by hunting ; but, for want ofliv- 
ing prey, will fometimes feed on earVion, as all the rapa¬ 
cious birds oecadonally do, of what genus foever ; for it 
is a vulgarerror, which Vaillant contradicts from his'own 
knowledge, that eagles will not feed upon a dead bead, 
how hungry foever they may be. This bird however, 
not having the drength requilite for dedroying the ga¬ 
zelle, attacks only the fmallergume, fuch as hares, ducks, 
and partridges, which it is very dextrous in feizing : its 
long wings, whole tips reach almod to the end of the tail, 
are admirably (itted : for darting with vad fwiftnefs upon 
birds of fnch rapid flight as the partridges of Africa. 
The prevailing colour is dark-brown, lighter on the neck 
and bread, darker on the belly and mantle. The breeches, 
or long feathers of the thighs, are mixed with white, and 
drll more fo the down which covers the legs quite to the 
toes. The large wing-quills are a browni(h'-t>lack, with 
fome in the middle of their outer barb's ; the othbr quills 
of the wings, and thofe of the tail, are fliaded with grey 
and white; but the end of the tail is dark-brown, and-is 
fomewhat rounded. The toes are yellowidi, the nails a 
(hilling black; the beak horn-colour; the iris of the eye 
is yellow, which grows darker with age. This fpecies 
was obferved by Vaillant in the country of the Auteni- 
quois, and in Caffraria. The ned is built 011 trees, and 
lined with feathers or wool. The female lays two eggs, 
which are almod round, with reddidi fpots. She is 
larger than th‘e male ; but her colours are not fo dark, 
and her creft is Oiorter ; die lvas'mere 1 white about the 
thighs, and a few white fpots about the eyes and on the 
top of the head. The male and female are generally feen to¬ 
gether ; and they commonly keep to the fame haunts. This 
bird has only a plaintive note, which is feldom heard hue 
when in pnrfuitof the ravens, to which'it (hews no m'erCy 
if they come near its ncd. Its mod 'defperate battles are 
with that fpecies of corvus called the collared raven ; 
which bird, being drong and bold, will (bnv times attack 
this fmall eagle, to feize its prey ; a*party-of them will 
even afiail the ned, to devour thte eggs or•yo'ung* which 
the old ones defend with the mod defperate refolution. 
See the article Corvcjs, vol. v. p. 237. The young are 
at fird covered with a light-grey down,'which by degreed 
is fucceeded by brownifli feathers edged with rufous. 
Vailiant had an opportunity of examining three different 
neds of this fpecies ; he never foundmore than twoyoung 
in each, of which one was always a male and the other a 
female 1 ; they are e.ffily didirigtiifiied by the difference of 
1 fize 
