AQUILA BELLICOSA.
point, the hook of upper mandible greatly lengthened, and the festoon on the
cutting edge strongly developed. Wings long and pointed, and when folded
reach to within about two inches of the tip of the tail; the third and fourth
quill feathers equal and longest; the second and fifth slightly shorter; the
first considerably shorter. Toes with a few transverse plates superiorly behind
the base of the claws; elsewhere covered with small, more or less circular
scales. Claws very strong, much curved and pointed, particularly those of the
middle and hinder toes ; these are also grooved internally. Tail, fan-shaped.
DIMENSIONS.
Inches. Lines. Inches. Lines
from the point of the bill to Length of the outer toe.............. ......... 1 11
the tip of the tail.......... ... 36 6 of the inner toe.............. ........ 1 i i
of the bill from the gape .. 2 9 of the middle to e .......... 2 W Ê
rvf flip win rre wlipn fnlrlprl .......... 1 7
of the tail........................... ... 14 0 of the middle claw ..... 2 1
of the tarsus....................... 5 0 of the hinder c law ....... 9
We have never met a male bird of the age in which the female is represented
in the plate, yet we have reason to believe both undergo the same
changes; we have seen one in which faint indications of brown markings
were still perceptible on the belly.
The plumage of the specimen figured, we are inclined to' believe, is that o f a bird of the
second year, and that had it lived till after another moulting period, the whole of the under
parts, behind the breast, with the exception o f the legs, would have' been a uniform white
colour, or, in other words, it would have exhibited the garb which immediately precedes that
of maturity, and which has been described and represented by Levaillant.* Small antelopes,
hares, and gallinaceous birds, constitute the common food of this eagle, and after capturing
them, it carries them away in its powerful talons, either to its nest or to some convenient situation
where it can in safety consume them. In seeking its prey, it flies almost constantly in circles,
and generally at a very great height; yet the distance to which it ascends does not appear to
prove disadvantageous'tb it, as it readily detects the smallest of the quadrupeds upon which
it feeds, even from the great elevation to which it ascends. On discovering its prey it instantly
descends, and advances to the object of its pursuit with a rapidity and a noise which excites
surprise, though its approach may not have been unobserved.
* Oiseaux d’Afrique, vol. i. plate 1.