AQUILA OOEONATA.
of pure white or bright reddish orange; and the feathers of the belly and the
tail coverts are tipped with one or other of these colours. Thighs externally
velvet-black, the feathers tipped and partially barred with white; the tarsi
and thighs internally deep umber-brown, tipped and barred with white. Tail
coloured as in the adult. Base of lower mandible, edges of upper towards
the angle of the mouth, and the toes, yellow; the other parts of the bill and
claws horn colour, the latter lightest.
F o rm, &c .—Figure rather more massive than that of the male, the feathers
of the crest rounded at the points ; in other respects the description of the
male will apply to the female.
DIMENSIONS.
Length from the point of the hill to
the tip of the tail ........... 37 0
of the bill from the angle of
the month ........................ 2
of the wings when folded..... 20 6
of the tail ........................ 16 6
Length of the tarsus........................... 5 ®
of the outer toe...................... 1 6
of the middle toe.................... 2 0
o f, the inner to e ..................... 1 2
of the hinder toe.................... 1 1
of the hinder claw ................ 3 1
There is every reason to believe that this is the bird figured as the “ Imperial Eagle of
Africa,” in Griffith’s Animal Kingdom, and if so, it is an inhabitant of both Western and
Southern Africa, and has a similar range as Aquila bellicosa, which is found at Sierra Leone,
as well as at the Cape of Good Hope. In South Africa it inhabits the same districts as the
last-named species, and is only to be distinguished from it, when flying, by the comparative
shortness and roundness of its wings, and the great length of its tail. By these peculianties it
is also readily distinguished from the other or more common Species when in the hand ; and
if further proofs of difference are required, the markings of the tail and the character o f the
crest will supply ample evidence of its being a distinct species. In A . cormata, there are only
three light-coloured bars to the tail, and all of these upon the last half of it; while in A.
bellicosa there are seven light-coloured bars, part of them on the first half. The crest, in the
first-mentioned, is strongly developed at all ages; in the last it is only rudimentary, both
in youth and in advanced age. It feeds, like its congener, upon small quadrupeds, &c., but
is not so active in seizing them, probably owing to the greater imperfection of its wings. It
builds its nest on lofty trees, and lays two eggs.