we killed near the same place had frogs and fish in his throat: he was
sitting by the river, close to the water’s edge, evidently fishing.
Mr. Artlepp writes (July, 1868): “A few weeks ago, a pair darted
down on a flock of merino ewes and lambs, and only flew off after
having despatched forty of the latter ! At the time this happened,
the sheep were in charge of a small bush-boy in a sepluded kloof,
far away from the homestead. They quite disregarded the boy, and
were only put to flight when the unfortunate owner made his
appearance with a gun.”
General colour rufous-brown; tail and wing feathers dark-brown;
the former tipt with rufous. Eyebrow and hairs covering the space
between the eye and the bill very dark brown, almost black; from
the angle of mouth on each side of chin, a dark rufous patch. Bill
. black; cere and toes yellow; irides the same. Legs feathered to
the toes. Length, 2' 8"; wing, V 11"; tail, 12| .
Mr. Gurney observes:—“ The great peculiarity in the adult of
this Eagle is that most of its feathers are parti-coloured—a portion
of the feather being rich rufous and the remainder dark purplish
brown.
“ This peculiarity does not exist in the plumage of the young bird,
which is also much paler than that of the adult. Andersson says that
the iris in adults is pale yellow freckled with brown, and in immature
birds brown—a young specimen killed by Ayres had the iris light
brown.”
Fig. Lilford, Ibis, 1865, pi. 5.
31. A quila w a h lb e eg i. Wahlberg’s Eagle.
This species was first discovered by Wahlberg in Caffraria, but
only one example has ever fallen under our notice, having been
obtained a* Kuruman by our friend, Dr. Exton. Senor Anchieta
has, however, met with it very plentifully at Huilla in Mossamedes,
and also at Humbe, on the river Cunene.
Exton’s specimen was throughout of a dark coffee-brown, variegated
on the crown of the head, with light brown, wing and tail
feathers shot with purple; legs, feathered to the toes; head, with a
slight occipital crest. Length, 24"; wing, 17"; tail, 10" 2 '".
Fig. Gurney, Trans. Zool. Soc. Vol. iv. pi. 77.
32. N isae tus pen na tu s . Booted Eagle.
Aquila pennata, Bayard, B. S. Afr. p. 10 (1867).
Le Vaillant found this speoies only in the forests of Outeniqualand,
perching on the summits of high trees, and shy and difficult of
approach. Dr. Smith cites it as from near “ Heeren Logement,” in
Clanwilliam. A young bird, shot by Mr. Jackson at Nel’s Poort, is
entirely of a dark-brown colour, in some places inclining to black.
He tells us he was attracted to it by its peculiar cry, and has never
seen another.
We have procured it at Saldanha Bay on the West Coast,
and found it breeding on the Berg River in the month of September.
It has also been obtained near Grahams-town, but has
not yet occurred to Mr. Ayres in Natal or the Transvaal, though Dr.
Dickerson procured a single example at Chibisa in the Zambesi
district. Mr. Gurney also states that Mr. Andersson’s last collection
contained one of these Eagles obtained in Ondonga, Ovampo
Land.
The nests are placed in trees, very similar to those of Buteo jackal;
the eggs are generally two, of a dirty white ground, more or less
blotched and smeared with light reddish-brown; axis, 2" b" ' ; diam.,
1" 10'". Our son also found a nest containing a pair of eggs at
Grootevaders-bosch, near Swellendam. The nests we examined all
contained green leaves. Mr. Henry Buckley sends the accompanying
note:—“ An egg of this species sent me by Layard from South
Africa is white blotched with fight brown, and measures 2T7 X 1‘78-
Eggs from Spain measure 2‘03 to 2‘24 long by 1‘7 to 1‘82 broad
(Vide Ibis, 1866, p. 389). Hume (Scrap Book, p. 187) records an
Indian egg measuring 2T3 x 1‘78.”
Above brown; the shoulder feathers margined with white; ears
and space behind the base of the lower mandible brown-black; under
parts white; the breast and anterior part of belly streaked with
brown-black; tail nearly even, black-brown, variegated with narrow,
irregular, wavy bars of a darker tint, and all tipt with obscure white;
legs feathered to the toes. Length, 20"; wing, 14"; tail, 8".
Fig. Dresser, B. of Eur. part xxxii.