Not having enjoyed an opportunity of seeing this bird in a state of nature, I must now avail myself of
the notes o f those who have been more fortunately situated.
“ T he Spotted Eagle appears to be rare in Spain,” says Lord Lilford, “ and I never saw it alive in any
part o f the country; but there was a specimen in the University Museum at Seville, said to have been killed
near that town, and I found another in the collection at Valencia. I do not find this species mentioned
in any o f the Spanish Catalogues of the Birds o f Andalucia o r Valencia. I t was very abundant in the Ionian
Islands in January and February, 1857; I have seen the bird several times in Corfu ; and it appears to be a
regular winter visitant to Epirus. I never saw one of this species, except in o r near marshes; and it is
certainly the most tree-loving Eagle with which I am acquainted.”
In ‘The Ib is ’ for 1 8 6 1 , Mr. Simpson says:— “ The Aquila ncevia mostly haunts the plateau or open
down-country o f the Dobrudscha, and places its nest upon the ground. I found, or was directed to, no
less than four, two of which were on the ground under the shelter o f bushes, and two were on the
bare plain. Out o f the four I only got two eggs, and these very poorly marked specimens. The eggs
were generally broken, the fragments being sometimes trailed several yards from the nest, which is a
slight structure composed o f a few sticks with a lining o f wool carefully arranged. In one was a coloured
piece o f cloth. The Spotted Eagle is generally a tree-building bird ; but here it seems to confine itself to
the open country, where probably it feeds largely upon the lizards and small animals that are so numerous.”
In another volume of ‘The Ib is ’ ( 1 8 6 9 ) , Mr. C. Farinan remarks that the bird is “ not uncommon
in any p art o f Central Bulgaria, but is most numerous in the neighbourhood o f the Devna lakes and
the Pravidy Valley. In its habits it strongly resembles the Buzzards, generally flying low in pursuit
of its prey, which, if belonging to the feathered tribes, it strikes in the air. I t seldom soars to any
great height, although on rare occasions I have seen it rise until it was hardly distinguishable. It
generally rests on trees, preferring a dead or sear bough, whence it watches its prey, and, when the
opportune moment arrives, dashes off in pursuit, and again returns to the same resting-place if unsuccessful.
When thus engaged it will permit a very near approach and is therefore easily shot.
“ In the spring of 1 8 6 5 I observed a nest o f this bird placed on an ash-tree overhanging the stream a t the
southern entrance o f the Pravidy valley: it was more neatly put together than most Eagles’ nests, and was
warmly and softly lined with blossoms o f the a sh-tre e; it contained one young bird ju st hatched, and two
eggs already cracked by the young birds within. On the edge o f the nest were the two fore legs of a
leveret.”
“ The Aquila ncevia,” says Dr. Adams, “ is the most common Eagle in Egypt, and is very generally dis-
tribnted over the country. I t may often be seen in fields, hunting after reptiles and small quadrupeds, or
feeding on fish on the sandbanks. I found portions o f a large snake in one killed near Thebes, and on
another occasion surprised a pair intently devouring a large Lepidote ( Characmm denies: Sav ) ''— The
Ibis, 1 8 6 4 .
“ Egypt seems to be the favourite winter-qcarters o f this species ; it is then so plentiful that I have seen
as many as twenty together in a grove of palm-trees. I think it probable that they do not remain to breed ;
for they showed no signs o f pairing as late as the end of March. This is an eminently arboreal. Eagle, and
is seldom seen among rocks. Reptiles and carrion are its usual food. The name Spotted Eagle is
applicable only to the immatore bird. With the exception, perhaps, o f C ir c a e tm g a /lic u s , the species is
much tamer and more easily approached than any other large raptorial bird in Egypt.”—R. C . T a y l o r m
‘ T h e H i s , ’ 1 8 6 7 .
“ Aquila ntema, though only a cold-weather visitant to the north-western provinces of India, breeds on the
side of the Himalayas in the Sahrnnpore district. In the crops of all those we examined we found only
frogs. This is, perhaps, the reason why the bird is so seldom seen except where water is plentiful. It may
frequently be observed seated among the half-submerged grass, where it watches for its prey much as
a Heron does. The bills and claws o f those I shot were qften covered with m u d ; and their crops could
hardly have held another frog."— B r o o k s , ill ‘The Ibis,’ 1 8 6 8 .
The Plate represents a young bird, about two-thirds o f the natural size, with a very much reduced figure
of the adult in the distance.
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