)so F a : 
iize even at that age. The tuft or crcd, begins to appear 
about the time they quit the ned. 
51. Falco longicaudtis, the long-tailed eagle. Ifacom- 
manding courage be one of the attributes which didin- 
gniflies the eagles from other birds, this fpecies may vie 
with all others. He tyrannifes over all the great birds 
that approach his domain ; he is a real defpot, who, 
availing himfelf of his drength, makes war, and fpreads 
devaftation all around him. He flies with great eafe and 
fwiftnefs; and his long tail is of adipirable ufe to him in 
making:thofe quick turns which are nec e-flit ry,for defeat¬ 
ing. the exertions and (hiftings of birds who endeavour to 
efcape his cruel talons. He is fond of purfuing thofe birds 
w-hole flight is the mod rapid and varied; efpeciallv the 
ring-dove, or wood-pigeon, and that fpecies called by Vail- 
l.ant ramrou, which is his common food. Falcons, fpar- 
row-hawks, hobbies, &cc. purfue this fort of pigeon in 
Europe, but with little fucce.fs, even when they pounce 
upon a whole flock of them. Their mode of attack in¬ 
deed is different : they rife in the air, and dart l'uddenly 
at the prey, which if they rnifs, the pigeon has time to ef¬ 
cape before they can recover themfelves. But the long¬ 
tailed eagle watches the motions of his prey, and leaves 
nothing to chance : this pigeon gains the tops of the high- 
elt trees, and indulges in a manner of flying which is pecu¬ 
liar to itfelf. If the eagle at this time can get beneath him 
before he can gain the woods and hide among the thickets, 
his fate is inevitable: all his turns and rapid movements 
are ot no avail : his enemy rather endeavours to weary 
him out than to follow him : keeping always below him 
fo as to bidder him from reding, and the moment he en¬ 
deavours to percli lie is fine to be taken, for the eagle in¬ 
tercepts him by a (horter cut. If the bird drops on the 
ground, fatigued, the eagle pounces upon him and feizes 
him indantly. This eagle tears the feathers from the botfy 
before he devours it : and this he does on the low branch 
of a tree, on a fallen trunk, or on a rock ; but never on 
the ground. This bird is moflly found in forefls ; prefer¬ 
ring places where the trees are larged, and dand apart ; 
for there, concealed behind a large bough, he watches the 
motions of the woo-d-pigeons and the partridges, his fa¬ 
vourite prey : he feeds alfo upon a very fmall kind of ga¬ 
zelle, which frequents the woods, called nomctjes by the 
Hottentots. “ 1 long enjoyed the pleafure,” fays Vail- 
lant, “ of obferving a pair of thefe eagles, whofe ned was 
near my camp in the woods of the delightful country of 
Auteniquoi. 1 watched them more than three weeks be¬ 
fore I diot them : feated at the foot of a tree, 1 (pent 
whole mornings in marking their motionsand their wiles. 
As this was the time of fitting, the ned was never left 
by botft, and I was fure to find them every day in the fame 
place. If the male had feized a prey, he was prefently 
followed by a numeronsand noify flight of ravens, as if to 
difpute a lhare in the booty ; but the eagle feems to de- 
fpife their croaking and threatening; and the dadardly 
troop dare not come very near, but are content to feize 
the morfels which fall from the tree, where the eagle de¬ 
vours his prey with the greated tranquillity. If a large 
bird of prey appears, the male eagle purfues it with the 
mod bitter animolity, till he drives it out of his domain. 
In the mean time the (mailed birds might go with impu¬ 
nity even upon his ned ; and there they were fecure againd 
the attacks of the fmaller rapacious birds.” 
The extreme width of this bird’s wings appear fmaller 
than that of the other eagles ; becaufe, as the wings 
reach only half-way the tail, they appear (hort in propor¬ 
tion to the length of the tail ; but, when the fize of the 
body is conlidered, the wings are not fmall. The body 
of this eagle is not fo thick as fome of the fpecies ; but 
it is longer, and dimmer, as fitted for the chace : it dif¬ 
fers, therefore, from the douter eagles, as a greyhound 
from a madid'dog. This fpecies has a tuft alio, but not 
fo confpicuous as the preceding, and in the female hardly 
perceptible. The female is about a third larger than the 
male, and has more fawn-colour upon the mantle and wing- 
L C O. 
coverts. The tail is tranfverfely ftrip-ed with black and 
white ; the outer barbs of the large wing-quills are 
brovvnidi ; all the part which is concealed when the 
wings are folded up is llripeu. The toes arc yellow ; 
the claws, which are very ftrong, are lead-colour,, as is 
the bill. The iris of the eye is a bright yellow. The 
plumage in general is white, (haded with black!fh on the 
mantle ; it is foft to the touch, whereas the eagles in ge¬ 
neral are rough. Its cry confids of fever d flfiarp founds 
following in quick fucceflion, foinethinglike .cri T qui-qui- 
qui-qui. When on his. percli, after .being gorged, he re¬ 
peals the fame notes for hours together, but in accents 
rather.weak for a bird of fuch a lize. The white eagle 
builds on the top of the highed trees: the male and fe¬ 
male fit by turns ; the eggs are two, white, the fize of a 
turkey’s, but more round. The young, one differs little 
from the full,-grown bird ; the brown tints are indeed 
lighter, and all the wing-coverts are edged with readidi. 
It is a general remark on the young of the rapacious 
kinds, that the feathers of the mantle are always bordered 
with reddifii or fawn-colours. Vaillant met with this fpe¬ 
cies in the Anteniquois country only ; and from its vvhite- 
nefs he calls it blanchard. 
52. Falco milvus, the kite. Cere yellow; tail forked; 
body ferruginous ; head whitifh. This bird is eadly diftin- 
guidied by his forked tail and his dow floating motion. 
He is never at red ; to him flying feems both natural and 
eafy ; and he may be faid to fipend his life in the air. The 
manner in which he plies his wings, has often been ad¬ 
mired. They are at times altogether without motion ; 
and it is by his tail alone that he direfts his evolutions. 
He raifes himfelf without effort, and defcends as if he 
were Aiding along an inclined plane. He flackens, then 
quickens, his movement, again dops his flight, and hangs 
as if motionlefs in the bofom of the air for hours together. 
With all this apparent eafe in flying, lie feldom chafes; 
for there is hardly any bird that cannot make good his re¬ 
treat againd him. He may therefore be conlidered as a • 
lurking enemy, who prowls about, and when he finds a 
fmall bird wounded, or a young chicken drayed from the 
mother, indantly feizes the hour of calamity, and, like a 
famidied glutton, lliews no mercy. Notwithdanding its 
ignoble manners, the French call it the royal kite ; becaufe 
it was formerly an amufement for princes to hunt this 
cowardly bird with the falcon or the fparrpiy-ha.wk. It 
is indeed entertaining to fee it, though polTeired of all 
that ought to infpire courage, and deficient neither in 
weapons, drength, nor agility, decline the combat, and 
fly before a fparrow-hawk much fmaller than itfelf; it 
condantly circles, and rifes, as it were, to conceal itfelf 
in the clouds; but, when overtaken, buffers itfelf to be 
beaten without refidance, and brought to the ground, 
not wounded, but vanquilhed, and rather overcome with 
fear than fubdued by the force of its antagonid. Though 
the body of the kite is comparatively fmall, its wings ex¬ 
tend near five feet; the cere, the iris, and the feet, are 
yellow ; the bill is of a horn colour, blackifil towards the 
point, and the nails are black; its light is as keen as its 
dight is rapid; fometimes it (bars fo high in the air as to 
be beyond tire reach of our view, and yet at this immenfe 
didance it didinbtly perceives its food, and defcends upon 
whatever it can devour or ravage without refidance ; its 
attacks are confined to the fmalled animals and the feebled 
birds; it is particularly fond of young chickens, but the 
fury of the mother is fufficient to repel the robber. It is 
not a bird of palfage, for it condantly condrudts its ned 
in the fame climates, and breeds in the hollow of rocks. 
The female lays two or three eggs, which are whitilh with 
pale yellow fpots, and, like thole of all the Carnivorous 
birds, are rounder than lien’s eggs. This fpecies feems 
to be fcattered through- the whole extent of the ancient 
continent, from Sweden to Senegal p and is the only one 
which regularly inhabits this country. It is the falco 
milvus of Linnaeus, and the kite or glead of Willughby, 
Pennant, and Latham. I11 German it is named weijer 
■nulan 
