CHAPTER V.EAGLES AND FALCONS.

THE EAGLES—THEBEARDEDEAGLE,ORLÄMMERGEIER—A Visit to their Nest—Habits—A Little Girl carried off alive—Habits in Greece—Appearance—Von Tschudi’s and Captain Hutton’s Descriptions of its Attacks—THETRUEEAGLES—THEWEDGE-TAILEDEAGLE—Eye—Crystalline Lens—How Eagles may be Divided—THEIMPERIALEAGLE—THEGOLDENEAGLE—In Great Britain—Macgillivray’s Description of its Habits—Appearance—THEKITEEAGLE—Its Peculiar Feet—Its Bird’s-nesting Habits—THECOMMONHARRIEREAGLE—THEINDIANSERPENTEAGLE—THEBATELEUREAGLE—THEWHITE-TAILEDEAGLE—A Sea Eagle—Story of Capture of some Young—THESWALLOW-TAILEDKITE—On the Wing—THECOMMONKITE—THEEUROPEANHONEYKITE—Habits—ANDERSSON’SPERN—THE FALCONS—The Bill—THECUCKOOFALCONS—THEFALCONETS—THEPEREGRINEFALCON—Its Wonderful Distribution—Falconry—Names for Male, Female, and Young—Hawks and Herons—THEGREENLANDJER-FALCON—THEKESTRELS—THECOMMONKESTREL—Its Habits and Disposition.

ASalready explained, the Eagles may be distinguished from the Buzzards by their reticulated tarsus; otherwise the proportions of the leg-bones are similar, the tibia being considerably longer than the tarsus.

THE BEARDED EAGLE, OR LÄMMERGEIER (Gypaëtus barbatus).

The generic name of this Eagle is derived from two Greek words (γύψ, a Vulture, ἀετός, an Eagle), and no name could have been better chosen, for with the structure of an Eagle it combines many of the habits of a Vulture, and has many ways in common with the Egyptian Vulture (Neophron percnopterus). In Europe it is found only in the mountainous parts of those countries bordering the Mediterranean basin, and is now nearly extinct in Switzerland. In the mountains of Spain, however, it is still to be met with in some quantities, and Mr. Howard Saunders states that one or two pairs may be found in every range of mountains. In Sardinia it is said by Mr. Basil Brooke to be decidedly common, and during one of his visits to that island he obtained a very curious nestling bird covered with down. “A pair of these birds,” says Mr. Brooke, “are in possession of every separate range of hills, which they appear to regard as their own territory, and from which they are seldom to be found far distant. They are generally to be seen singly or in pairs; but now and then I have observed three, and on one occasion four together. As a rule they are most decidedly mountain birds, but occasionally a single bird may be seen hunting over the plains and cultivated lands, not flying more than one hundred yards high. The nest of one found on the 18th of April was built on a broad ledge of a precipitous cliff, about three hundred feet high, within twenty feet of the top, and was completely sheltered from the severity of the weather by a large overhanging piece of rock. After some trouble I discovered a way by which, with a little care, I managed to get on the ledge, much to the discomfort of the solitary inmate—a young nestling, covered as yet with a pale yellowish-brown down. The nest itself was an accumulation of dried sticks, with a cup-shaped hollow in the middle, and had evidently been used for years. In it, and on the surrounding ledge, were great quantities of the leg-bones and feet of goats, &c., and a part of a fox’s lower jaw; these being in all stages of putrefaction, the smell was abominable. The old female on my first visit to the nest sat extremely close, and although I was standing over her within seven or eight yards, would not leave her young until I fired a shot, upon which she dashed off, dropping almost perpendicularly, and was out of range before I could fire. She flew over the valley and lit upon a high-projecting, rocky pinnacle, upon which I could see her through the telescope, sitting quietly watching all my proceedings. She returned to the nest shortly afterwards, on my having retired to a little distance.”

In Algeria the Lämmergeier is said to feed largely on Land Tortoises, which it carries to a great height in the air, and drops upon a convenient rock, so as to break the shell. So much has been written upon the habits of this bird that it would be impossible to give here one tithe of the interesting notes which have been published in various works and periodicals; but no history of the species, however brief, would be complete without a passing mention of the little girl who was said to have been carried off in childhood by one of these birds. The history,believed by him to be well authenticated, is related by Naumann as follows.—“Anna Zurbuchen, of Hatchern, in Bern Oberland, born in 1760, was taken out by her parents, when she was nearly three years old, when they went to collect herbs. She fell asleep, and the father put his straw hat over her face and went to his work. Shortly after, when he returned with a bundle of hay, the child was gone; and the parents and peasants sought her in vain. During this time Heinrich Michel, of Unterseen, was going on a wild path to Wäppesbach, and suddenly heard a child cry. He ran towards the sound, and a Bearded Vulture rose, scared by him, from a mound, and soared away over the precipice. On the extreme edge of the latter, below which a stream roared, and over whose edge any moment would have precipitated it, Michel found the child, which was uninjured, except on the left arm and hand, where the bird had probably clutched it; its shoes, stockings, and cap were gone. This occurred on the 12th of July, 1763. The place where the child was found was about 1,400 paces distant from the tarn where it had been left asleep. The child was afterwards calledLämmergeier-Anni, and married Peter Frutiger, a tailor in Gewaldswyl, where she was still living in 1814.”

The circumstantial way in which the above narrative runs appears to leave little doubt of its reality, but it is difficult to give it credence, as the Lämmergeier has but little power in its feet, which resemble those of the Vultures; and most of the stories of its prowess have been discredited by the researches of modern naturalists. Dr. Brehm observes:—“To my intense astonishment, the Spanish hunters did not regard this bird in the slightest degree as a bold, merciless robber: all asserted that it fed on carrion, especially bones, only attacking living animals when driven by necessity. They called it ‘Quebranta-Huesos,’ or the ‘Bone-smasher,’ and assured me that this favourite food was broken in a singular manner. My later observations proved nothing which would justify my treating their statements as otherwise than correct, so I was forced to come to the conclusion that the Lämmergeier had been much maligned. Since my first account of this bird, I have read a number of communications from other observers, and gather from the whole that the Bearded Vulture is nought else than a weak, cowardly bird of prey, gifted neither in mind nor body to any great extent, and one that but rarely carries away small mammals. Its food usually consists of bones and other carrion.”

Mr. Hudleston met with the Lämmergeier in Greece, where, however, it was not common, and he writes of its habits as observed by him:—“He is not a demonstrative bird like the Griffon, who may be seen sailing about at a great height in the air, sometimes alone, but more often in troops of from half a dozen to fifty, revolving in endless circles round each other, that no corner may remain unseen. The Lämmergeier, on the contrary, may be observed floating slowly, at a uniform level, close to the cliffs of some deep ravine, where his shadow is perhaps projected on the wall-like rocks. If the ravine has salient and re-entering angles, he does not cut across from point to point, but preserves the same distance from the cliff; and when he disappears in any natural fissure, you feel sure of the very spot where he will emerge on turning the corner of the precipice. Marrow-bones are the dainties he loves the best; and when the other Vultures have picked the flesh off any animal, he comes in at the end of the feast and swallows the bones, or breaks them and swallows the pieces, if he cannot get the marrow out otherwise. The bones he cracks by taking them to a great height and letting them fall on a stone. This is probably the bird that dropped a Tortoise on the bald head of poor old Æschylus. Not, however, that he restricts himself, or the huge black infant that he and his mate are bringing up, in one of the many holes with which the limestone precipice abounds, to marrow, turtle, bones, and similar delicacies: neither lamb, hare, nor kid comes amiss to him—though, his power of claw and beak being feeble for so large a bird, he cannot tear his meat like other Vultures and Eagles. I once saw a mature bird of this species which had evidently swallowed a bone, or something uncommonly indigestible, close to theabattoirat Athens. He was in a very uncomfortable attitude, and appeared to be leaning on his long tail for support. After riding round in gradually decreasing circles till within ten yards, I dropped off horseback and made a rush at him, but he just managed to escape, and then rising slowly till about the height of the Acropolis, made off towards the gorge of Phylæ, where there is an eyry.

“The Lämmergeier has an extremely ugly countenance; this becomes perfectly diabolical when he is irritated, and shows the bright red round his eyes. Altogether, what with his black beard, rufousbreast, and long, dark tail, he is an awful-looking beast, and has the reputation of committing divers evil deeds—such, for instance, as pushing lambs and kids, and even men, off the rocks, when they are in ticklish situations. Nevertheless, he is a somewhat cowardly bird, has a feeble, querulous cry, and will submit to insults from a Falcon not a fourth his size or weight.”

BEARDED EAGLE, OR LÄMMERGEIER.

Von Tschudi says that in Switzerland it will capture Hares, Martens, Squirrels, Crows, and Woodcocks, and he states that a stomach was found to contain five pieces of Bullock’s ribs two inches thick and from six to nine inches long, a lump of hair, and the leg of a young Goat from the knee to the foot. The bones were perforated by the gastric juice, and partly reduced to powder. The stomach of another Lämmergeier, examined by Mr. Schinz, contained the large hip-bone of a Cow, the skin and fore-quarters of a Chamois, many smaller bones, some hair, and a Heath-cock’s claws. Should a Lämmergeier see an old Chamois or a Sheep or Goat grazing near a precipice, it will whirl round and round, trying to torment and frighten the creature till it runs to the edge of the cliff; and then, falling down upon it, the bird not unfrequently succeeds in pushing it into the abyss below with one stroke of its wings. Diving down after its mangled victim, it will begin by picking out its eyes, and then proceed to tear open and devour the body. It is only the smaller class of booty, such as Foxes, Lambs, or Marmots, which can be carried off by the Lämmergeier, as its feet and claws, as we have already remarked, are comparatively weak.[183]

In the Himalayas, where the species is also tolerably plentiful, its habits vary somewhat, and itnot unfrequently comes close to habitations for offal or bones, and behaves in a very Vulturine manner. Captain Hutton writes:—“Marvellous, indeed, are the stories told, both by natives and Europeans, of the destructive habits of this bird, and both accounts, I fully believe, have scarcely a grain of truth in them: all I can positively say on the point, however, is that I have known the bird well in its native haunts for thirty years and more, and never once, in all that time, have I seen it stoop to anything but a dead carcase. As to carrying off hens, dogs, lambs, or children, I say the feat would be utterly impossible, for the creature does not possess the strongly-curved, sharp-pointed claws of the Eagle, but the far straighter and perfectly blunt talons of the Vulture. Day after day I have seen them sweeping by along the face of the hill, like the wandering Albatross at sea, and, like it, ever in search of offal, which, when found, is not swept off the ground after the manner of the Kite, but the bird alights upon it, as it would upon a Bullock, and then, if the morsel is worth having, devours it on the spot, and again launches itself upon its wide-spread wings and sails away as before. There is no sudden stooping upon a living prey, as with the Falcon tribe, but its habits and manners in this respect are, as far as I have seen, entirely Vulturine.”

The Lämmergeier measures about three feet and a half in length, and its outspread wings often extend to as much as nine feet in expanse. A second species is found in Africa, the Southern Lämmergeier (Gypaëtus ossifragus), which differs from the European one, in having the tarsus bare, instead of being feathered to the toes.

THE TRUE EAGLES (Aquila).

In Australia no true Eagle is found, but a very powerful bird called the WEDGE-TAILEDEAGLE(Uroaëtus[184]audax[185]) inhabits that country, differing from all its more northern relations in its very long and wedge-shaped tail, which is like that of the Lämmergeier.

The true Eagles have a very powerful bill, with a festoon distinctly marked in the edge of the upper mandible, which is, however, different from the toothed bill of the Falcons, to be considered presently. They nearly all possess a large bony shelf over the eye, which may serve to protect that organ from the sunlight during some of the aerial excursions the bird makes.

EYE OF EAGLE, SHOWING CRYSTALLINE LENS. (After Yarrell.)

The orb of the eye in the Eagles is supported by a ring of bony plates, numbering fifteen in the Golden Eagle. These bony plates are capable of slight motion upon each other. The figure represents the crystalline lens of the same bird, the lens being subject to great variety of form in different birds. In the Eagle the proportion of the axis to the diameter of the lens is as 3810to 5710; in the Eagle Owl, which seeks its prey at twilight, the relative proportions of the lens are as 6710, to 7810; and in the Swan, which has to select its food under water, the proportions of the lens are as 3 to 3810. Birds have also the power of altering the degree of the convexity of the cornea. With numerous modifications of form, aided by delicate muscular arrangement, birds appear to have the power of obtaining such variable degrees of extent or intensity of vision as are most in accordance with their peculiar habits and necessities.[186]

In these birds is found a return of that difference in the size of the sexes which was so noticeable in the Sparrow-Hawks, for in the Eagles the female is decidedly larger than the male. There are two convenient groups into which the Eagles may be divided, according as they have feathered or unfeathered legs. All the true Eagles belong to the first section, all the less noble and Serpent-eating kinds to the latter section. Although they are birds of grand physique, it is a question whether Eagles deserve the position they enjoy for nobility of disposition: they are rapacious it is true, but not always brave, for one Golden Eagle will give way to a Peregrine Falcon, while the grand-looking IMPERIALEAGLE(Aquila heliaca, see figure on p. 235) is said by a good observer in India, Mr. A. O. Hume, C.B., to be no better than a great hulking Kite. He adds:—“Much has been written about the daring and fierceness of this Eagle. I can only say that in India (where possibly the climate is subversive ofcourage), I have never seen the slightest indications of these qualities. I have driven the female off hard-set eggs, and plundered the nest before the eyes of the pair, without either of them flapping a pinion even to defend what a little Shrike will swoop at once to save; and I have seen a couple of Crows thrash one of them soundly. As a rule, this species with us is an ignoble feeder. I have generally found them gorged with carrion, and after a good meal they will sit stupidly on a tree, or any little mud pillar, and permit you to walk within thirty yards of them; but before feeding they are somewhat wary, and can by no means always be secured, even when seen sitting. On more than one occasion I have seen Desert Rats (Gerbillus erythrurus) in their crops, and I once shot one of a pair which were busy, on the line of rail at Etawah, devouring a Bandicoot Rat (Mus bandicota), which some passing train had cut in two. Occasionally, but rarely, I found that they had eaten Quails and other birds. Once I shot a male which was dancing about on the ground in such an astounding fashion that I killed it to see what the matter was. The bird proved to have been choking. It had swallowed a whole dry shin-bone and foot of an Antelope. The bone apparently could not be got down altogether, and in trying to void it, the sharp points of the hoof had stuck into the back of the roof of the mouth.”[187]

THE GOLDEN EAGLE (Aquila chrysaëtus[188]).

The Golden Eagle is so called from the tawny or golden-brown colour which pervades the feathers of the neck in the old bird. Excepting in certain places in “Caledonia stern and wild,” where it is protected, it is a species which is becoming very rare in Great Britain, and but for the intervention of a few large-minded proprietors in Scotland would doubtless ere this have been extinguished. It is a much rarer bird now than the White-tailed Eagle, and the last-named species is often mistaken for it; but a little attention to one point will obviate all fear of a mistake in this respect, the Golden Eagle having at all ages the tarsus feathered to the toes, whereas the Sea Eagle belongs to the bare-legged section of these birds.

A better description of the habits of the Golden Eagle probably does not exist than that given by the late Professor Macgillivray:—

“See how the sunshine brightens the yellow tint of his head and neck, until it shines almost like gold! There he stands, nearly erect, with his tail depressed, his large wings half raised by his side, his neck stretched out and his eye glistening as he glances around. Like other robbers of the desert, he has a noble aspect, an imperative mien, a look of proud defiance; but his nobility has a dash of clownishness, and his falconship a vulturine tinge. Still, he is a noble bird, powerful, independent, proud, and ferocious, regardless of the weal or woe of others, and intent solely on the gratification of his own appetites; without generosity, without honour, bold against the defenceless, but ever ready to sneak from danger. Such is his nobility, about which men have so raved. Suddenly he raises his wings, for he has heard the whistle of the shepherd in the corry, and bending forward, he springs into the air. Oh, that this pencil of mine were a musket charged with buck-shot! Hardly do those vigorous flaps serve at first to prevent his descent; but now, curving upwards, he glides majestically along. As he passes the corner of that buttressed and battlemented crag, forth rush two ravens from their nest, croaking fiercely. While one flies above him, the other steals beneath, and they essay to strike him, but dare not, for they have an instinctive knowledge of the power of his grasp, and after following him a little way they return to their home, vainly exulting in the thought of having driven him from their neighbourhood. Bent on a far journey, he advances in a direct course, flapping his great wings at regular intervals, then shooting along without seeming to move them. In ten minutes he has progressed three miles, although he is in no haste, and now disappears behind the shoulder of the hill. But we may follow him in imagination, for his habits being well known to us, we may be allowed the ornithological licence of tracing them in continuance. Homeward bound, his own wants satisfied, he knows that his young must be supplied with food.

“Over the moors he sweeps, at the height of two or three hundred feet, bending his course to either side, his wings wide spread, his neck retracted, now beating the air, and again sailingsmoothly along. Suddenly he stops, poises himself for a moment, stoops, but recovers himself without touching the ground. The object of his regards, a Golden Plover, which he had spied on her nest, has eluded him; and he cares not to pursue it. Now he ascends a little, wheels in short curves, presently rushes down headlong, assumes the horizontal position when close to the ground, prevents his being dashed against it by expanding his wings and tail, thrusts forth his talons, and grasping a poor terrified Ptarmigan that sat cowering among the grey lichens, squeezes it to death, raises his head exultingly, emits a clear, shrill cry, and springing from the ground pursues his journey.

GOLDEN EAGLE.

“In passing a tall cliff that overhangs a small lake, he is assailed by a fierce Peregrine Falcon, which darts and plunges at him as if determined to deprive him of his booty, or drive him headlong to the ground. This proves a more dangerous foe than the Raven, and the Eagle screams, yelps, and throws himself into postures of defence; but at length the Hawk, seeing the tyrant is not bent on plundering his nest, leaves him to pursue his course unmolested. Over woods, and green fields, and scattered hamlets speeds the Eagle, and now he enters the long valley of the Dee, near the upper end of which is dimly seen through the grey mist the rock of his nest. About a mile from it he meets his mate, who has been abroad on a similar errand, and is returning with a white Hare in her talons. They congratulate each other with loud yelping cries, which rouse the drowsy shepherd on the strath below, who, mindful of the lambs carried off in spring-time, sends after them his malediction. Now they reach their nest and are greeted by their young with loud clamour.

“Let us mark the spot. It is a shelf of a rock, concealed by a projecting angle, so that it cannotbe injured from above, and is too distant from the base to be reached by a shot. In the crevices are luxuriant tufts ofRhodiola rosea, and scattered around are many alpine plants, which it would delight the botanist to enumerate. The mineralogist would not be less pleased could he with chisel and hammer reach that knob which glitters with crystals of quartz and felspar. The nest is a bulky fabric, five feet at least in diameter, rudely constructed of dead sticks, twigs, and heath; flat, unless in the centre, where it is a little hollowed and covered with wool and feathers. Slovenly creatures you would think these two young birds, clothed with white down, amid which the larger feathers are seen projecting, for their fluid dung is scattered all over the sticks, and you see that, had the nest been formed more compactly of softer materials, it would have been less comfortable. Strewn around, too, are fragments of Lambs, Hares, Grouse and other birds in various stages of decay. Alighting on the edges of the nest, the Eagles deposit their prey, partially pluck off the hair and feathers, and rudely tearing up the flesh, lay it before their ever-hungry young.”

The length of a male Golden Eagle is a little more than two feet and a half, while the female attains at least three feet in dimensions, with a wing three inches longer than that of her mate. The colour of the plumage is dark brown, with a rich tawny hue on the back of the neck and nape, the feathers of these parts being streaked with darker brown; the tail is more or less mottled with grey at the base, and is whiter in younger birds. The latter are often popularly distinguished as the Ring-tailed Eagles. By some authors the Eagle which frequents the mountains is considered to be a different species from that which inhabits the plains, but as far as present experience goes it is the younger birds which are more often met with in the latter localities, being probably driven from their mountain homes by the older birds. The Golden Eagle varies his choice of an eyry in different localities, building in the British Islands generally on a rock, but in many other countries nesting on a tree. It is found all over Europe and Northern Asia, in mountainous districts, extending into China and even into the Himalayas, whence the finest specimens are obtained. In North America also the examples of the Golden Eagle seem to be very large, but are not to be otherwise distinguished from European specimens.

THE KITE EAGLE (Neopus[189]malayensis).

This extraordinary bird bears the above name from its resemblance generally to a Kite, and also from its plumage, which in the young bird is wonderfully Kite-like, so that a dead specimen carelessly examined might be taken easily for one of the latter birds. One moment’s search, however, would dispose of the illusion, for no one who has once heard of the foot of this Eagle could ever forget it or mistake it for that of any other raptorial bird, the talons being longer and more slender in proportion to the size of the foot than in any known Eagle; they are also nearly straight. The inner claws are the longest, and that excellent observer, Captain Vincent Legge, points out that they seem “especially adapted for the work of carrying off loose and fragile masses, such as the nests of small birds, as they would naturally form its chief means of grasp when such an object was being held by both feet during the process of flight.” This last sentence gives an insight into the habits of the bird, which are on a par with its remarkable structure. It might well be called the “Bird’s-nesting Eagle,” for it seems to be the only bird of prey which systematically lives by the robbery of smaller birds’ nests; only on very rare occasions, and when pressed by hunger, has it been known to attack larger game or worry the poultry-yard. It is almost always on the wing, and the Lepcha-hunters near Darjeeling speak of it as the bird “that never sits down.” It is found in the Himalayas and in other wooded districts of India, and occurs but more sparingly in the Malayan peninsula and islands, ranging to some of the Moluccas, but probably visiting the latter only on migration. But it is in Ceylon that it is, perhaps, more plentiful than in any other locality, and the best account of its habits is that given by Captain Legge, whose words are subjoined. “This fine, long-winged Eagle is, on account of the singular structure of its feet and its curious habits, one of the most interesting, but, at the same time, perhaps the most destructive of raptors to bird-life in Ceylon. It subsists, as far as can be observed, entirely by birds’-nesting, and is not content with the eggs and young birds which its keen sight espies among the branches of the forest-trees, but seizes the nest in its talons, decamps with it, and often examinesthe contents as it sails lazily along. Furthermore, Mr. S. Bligh informs me that he once found the best part of a bird’s nest in the stomach of one of these Eagles which he shot in the Central Province. Its flight is most easy and graceful. In the early morning it passes much of its time soaring round the high peaks or cliffs on which it has passed the night, and about nine or ten o’clock starts off on its daily foraging expedition. It launches itself with motionless wings from some dizzy precipice, and proceeding in a straight line, till over some inviting-looking patna-woods it quickly descends with one or two rather sharp gyrations, through, perhaps, a thousand feet, and is in another moment gliding stealthily along just above the tops of the trees. In and out among these, along the side of the wood, backwards and forwards over the top of the narrow strip, it quarters, its long wings outstretched and the tips of its pinions wide apart, with apparently no exertion; and luckless indeed is the Bulbul, Oriole, or Mountain Finch whose carefully-built nest is discovered by the soaring robber.”[190]

The size of the Kite Eagle is about thirty inches in length, and the colour is entirely black, with some indistinct bars of ashy-grey on the tail. Besides the Eagles that have been alluded to already, there are the Hawk-Eagles (Nisaëtus), remarkable for their long legs, and the Crested Eagles (Spizaëtus), which have a beautiful long crest hanging from the hinder part of the head.

THE COMMON HARRIER EAGLE (Circaëtus[191]gallicus).

This, which is also called the “Jean-le-Blanc,” is one of the best-known of all the bare-legged section of the Eagles. The genusCircaëtus, to which it belongs, contains five species, of which four are peculiar to Africa, theC. gallicusbeing found all over Southern and Central Europe, and extending into India, where it is not at all unplentiful. In its nature this bird is rather sluggish, though in confinement it is very untamable, and wears a thoroughly fierce aspect, as could be seen by any one who examined the specimen in the Zoological Gardens. Its ferocious appearance was heightened by its peculiar eye, which is very large, of a bright yellow, with a very small black pupil, whereas the pupil in most birds of prey is rather large.[192]

THE INDIAN SERPENT EAGLE (Spilornis cheela).

This is a beautiful bird, having the under surface mottled with white spots or “ocelli.” All the Serpent Eagles, of which there are several species, are characterised by a similar style of plumage, and by a full, thick crest of feathers springing from the occiput and hind part of the head. They are found all over India and Ceylon, Southern China, and the Burmese countries, the Malayan Peninsula, Sunda Islands, Borneo, and Celebes. The Ceylonese species, which is a small race of the Indian bird, is stated by Layard to feed on Snakes, Lizards, and other reptiles and insects, and to be particularly partial to the large trees on the banks of tanks, from them swooping down on the frogs which came up to sun themselves on the floating logs or reeds. The Indian species of Serpent Eagle is a powerful bird, and is said to capture Pheasants during the breeding season and bring them to the nest. Mr. Hume has generally found small Snakes in their stomachs; once as many as fifty together were found, all scarcely bigger than large Worms; and an instance was brought to his knowledge of a Cobra some two feet and a half long having been found dead, but uninjured, in one of these birds’ stomachs. Mr. Thompson, a frequent contributor to Mr. Hume’s “Rough Notes,” tells of one which he had alive, and which was kept along with two little Indian Owls (Carine brama), a Carrion Crow, and three large green Woodpeckers, and who killed and ate up every one of the latter, though well supplied with other fresh meat.

THE BATELEUR EAGLE (Helotarsus[193]ecaudatus[194]).

This is a very remarkable bird, which might also with propriety be called the Short-tailed Eagle, as it is the only species known in which the wings exceed the tail in length. It is found in Africa only, where it is by no means rare in the southern and north-eastern quarters of the continent.In Damara Land, according to Mr. Andersson, it builds its nest on trees, selecting generally one of such a terribly thorny nature that the nest is always difficult of access. Occasionally, however, a rock is selected for the breeding-place. When in captivity, this bird changes the colour of the face, exactly as the Brazilian Caracara already alluded to; the bare skin round the nostrils and eyes, which is generally brilliant coral-red, fading to pale orange-yellow.

BATELEUR EAGLE.

The Bateleur Eagle is about two feet in length, and has an enormous crest of plumes. The colour is black, with a large maroon-coloured patch on the shoulders and on the back, the tail being also of this colour. Sometimes individuals with pale, cream-coloured backs are found; but at present it is not known whether these are a different species, or whether they constitute only a pale variety of the ordinary Bateleur.

THE WHITE-TAILED EAGLE (Haliaëtus albicilla[195]).

Sea Eagles are absent from South America, but probably from no other country of the globe. Both Europe and North America are inhabited by large and powerful species; and throughout Africa and Madagascar the handsomely-marked speciesH. vociferoccurs. One of the most widespread is the White-bellied Sea Eagle; it is found round the coasts of Australia and all the Molucca Islands, ranging as far as India and Ceylon, and as high as Cochin China.

The White-tailed Eagle, which, from its being an inhabitant of the British Islands, is the species most familiarly known of all the Sea Eagles, is still met with in some of the northern parts ofScotland, and in the Hebrides; but as it is a bird which creates a good deal of havoc among lambs at certain periods of the year, the war of extermination which has been waged against it has now contributed considerably to the increasing rarity of the species on these coasts. The breeding of this Sea Eagle has been well described by Mr. Woolley.[196]He says:—“On the coasts, the Sea Eagle chooses a roomy and generally sheltered ledge of rock. The egg which Mr. Hewitson figures (Eggs, Br. B., ed. 3, pl. iv., fig. 2) is one of two which I took on the 23rd April, 1849, on one of the most northern points of our island. The nest was very slightly made of a little grass and fresh heather loosely put together, without any sticks; but two or three ‘kek’ stalks were strewn about outside. There was a good thickness of guano-like soil upon the rock, which made much nest unnecessary. Two or three Guillemot’s beaks, the only unmanageable part of that bird, were not far off. The eggs were laid two days before when I went to reconnoitre; and I never shall forget the forbearance which a friend who was with me showed, at my request, as he lay, gun in hand, with the hen Eagle in full view upon her nest not forty yards below him. Her head was towards the cliff, and concealed from our sight; whilst her broad back and white tail, as she stood bending over her nest on the grassy ledge, with the beautiful sandstone rock and sea beyond, completed a picture rarely to be forgotten. But our ears, and the air we breathe, give a finish to Nature’s pictures which no art can imitate; and here were the effects of the sea, and the heather, and the rocks, the fresh warmth of the northern sun, and the excitement of exercise, while the musical yelping of the male Eagle came from some stand out of sight. Add to all this the innate feeling of delight connected with the pursuit of wild animals, which no philosopher has yet been able to explain further than as a special gift of our Great Maker, and then say whether it is not almost blasphemy to call such a scene a ‘picture!’ Upon this occasion, I made some remark to my friend, when the hen Eagle showed her clear eye and big, yellow beak, her head full of the expression of wild nature and freedom. She gave us a steady glance, then sprang from the rock, and with ‘slow winnowing wing’—the flight-feathers turning upwards at every stroke—was soon out at sea. Joined by her mate, she began to sail with him in circles farther and farther away, till quite out of sight, yelping as long as we could hear them, Gulls mobbing them all the time. To enjoy the beauties of a wild coast to perfection, let me recommend any man to seat himself in an Eagle’s nest. The year before this I took the young ones out of the same eyry late in July. It was my first attempt at an Eagle’s stronghold, and I shall never forget the interest of the whole affair; a thunderstorm coming on just before, making it necessary to cut drains in the peat with our knives, to divert the torrents of water; our councils about the best mode of attaching the ropes; the impertinence of a young lad who, stationed to watch for my signals, was rendered quite useless by his keen sense of the ridiculous on seeing me, in my inexperience, twisting round and round at the end of the rope; the extraordinary grandeur everything assumed, from the nest itself; the luxurious feeling of exultation; the interest of every plant about it—I know them all now; the heaps of young Herring-Gulls’ remains, and the large fish-bone; but, above all, the Eaglets fully able to fly, and yet crouching side by side, with their necks stretched out and chins on the ground, like young Fawns, their frightened eyes showing that they had no intention of showing fight.

“Very gently, as a man ‘tickles’ trout, I passed my hand under them, and tied their legs together, and then tried to confine their wings. They actually allowed me to fasten a handkerchief round them, which, however, was soon shaken off when they began to be pulled up. When the men had raised me, the string attached to my waist lifted one Eaglet, and presently the second came to the length of his tether. Great was the flapping of wings, and clutching at rocks and grass. I had many fears that the string or the birds’ legs must give way; but, after much hard pulling, I got them safely to the top, and they are now (1853) alive at Matlock amongst rocks, where I hope they may breed; but, though five years old this season, they have not yet quite completed the adult plumage. Their dutiful parents never came near them in their difficulties; but I am happy to say that in 1850 (the year after I took their eggs), they carried off their young, through the interest I was able to exert in their favour. They had shifted their position; and they changed again in 1851 to a rock with an aspect quite different, and more than a mile away. In 1847, to please the shepherds, the young were shot in the nest, which was built in the spot where I visited it the two following years. There was no sea-weed about this nest either time that I saw it; but a friend writes me word, that two whichhe examined last year on the sea-cliffs of this island, and which he carefully described to me, were principally made of that material, as Mr. Hewitson also had found them in the Shetland Islands. On one of these two occasions, the old Eagle made a dash near my informant, with a ‘fearful scream,’ and such was the tremendous character of the rocks, that his ‘hair gets strong’ when he thinks of them. These two nests, both occupied, were not more than a mile and a half apart.”

WHITE-TAILED EAGLE.

THE SWALLOW-TAILED KITE (Elanoides furcatus).

The forked tail which is characteristic of the Kites reaches in the present species its greatest development, so that the name of Swallow-tailed Kite is by no means inappropriate. On five occasions the bird has been captured in England, and it is doubtless during its migration that the bird is driven to Britain by some adverse wind. Its range is extensive, as it is numerous during the summer in some of the southern States of North America, and it migrates to South America, whence it frequently appears in collections from Brazil and Columbia. Mr. Audubon gives the following account of the Swallow-tailed Kite:—“The flight of this elegant species of Hawk is singularly beautiful and protracted. It moves through the air with such ease and grace, that it is impossible forany individual, who takes the least pleasure in observing the manners of birds, not to be delighted by the sight of it whilst on the wing. Gliding along in easy flappings, it rises in wide circles to an immense height, inclining in various ways its deeply-forked tail, to assist the direction of its course; dives with the rapidity of lightning, and, suddenly checking itself, re-ascends, soars away, and is soon out of sight. At other times, a flock of these birds, amounting to fifteen or twenty individuals, is seen hovering around the trees. They dive in rapid succession amongst the branches, glancing along the trunks, and seizing in their course the insects and small lizards of which they are in quest. Their motions are astonishingly rapid, and the deep curves which they describe, their sudden doublings and crossings, and the extreme ease with which they seem to cleave the air, excite the admiration of him who views them while thus employed in searching for food.

“In the States of Louisiana and Mississippi, where these birds are abundant, they arrive in large companies in the beginning of April, and are heard uttering a sharp plaintive note. At this period I generally remarked that they came from the westward, and have counted upwards of a hundred in the space of an hour, passing over me in a direct easterly course. At that season, and in the beginning of September when they all retire from the United States, they are easily approached when they have alighted, being then apparently fatigued, and busily engaged in preparing themselves for continuing their journey, by dressing and oiling their feathers. At all other times, however, it is extremely difficult to get near them, as they are generally on wing through the day, and at night rest on the highest pines and cypresses, bordering the river-bluffs, the lakes, or the swamps of that district of country.

“They always feed on the wing. In calm and warm weather they soar to an immense height, pursuing the large insects calledMusquito Hawks, and performing the most singular evolutions that can be conceived, using their tail with an elegance of motion peculiar to themselves. Their principal food, however, is large Grasshoppers, Grass Caterpillars, small Snakes, Lizards, and Frogs. They sweep close over the fields, sometimes seeming to alight for a moment to secure a Snake, and holding it fast by the neck, carry it off, and devour it in the air. When searching for Grasshoppers and Caterpillars, it is not difficult to approach them under cover of a fence or tree. When one is then killed, and falls to the ground, the whole flock comes over the dead bird, as if intent upon carrying it off. An excellent opportunity is thus afforded of shooting as many as may be wanted; and I have killed several of these Hawks in this manner, firing as fast as I could load my gun.

“The Fork-tailed Hawks are also very fond of frequenting the creeks, which, in that country, are much encumbered with drifted logs and accumulations of sand, in order to pick up some of the numerous Water-snakes which lie basking in the sun. At other times they dash along the trunks of trees, and snap off the pupæ of the Locust, or that insect itself. Although when on the wing they move with a grace and ease which it is impossible to describe, yet on the ground they are scarcely able to walk.

“I kept for several days one which had been slightly wounded in the wing. It refused to eat, kept the feathers of the head and rump constantly erect, and vomited several times part of the contents of its stomach. It never threw itself on its back, nor attempted to strike with its talons, unless when taken up by the tip of the wing. It died from inanition, as it constantly refused the food placed before it in profusion, and instantly vomited what had been placed down its throat.”

THE COMMON KITE (Milvus ictinus[197]).

Times have changed in England since the number of Kites to be seen flying about London Bridge could form a subject of astonishment to a foreign traveller visiting that country; but less than three hundred years ago this was the case, though now the species has been all but banished from the land. It may still occasionally nest in some parts of Wales and of Scotland; but in the latter country places where formerly the species bred plentifully now know it no more. The Kite builds its nest of sticks on a large tree, but occasionally also on rocks, and it is generally composed of a mixture of materials, such as bones, &c., and the lining usually contains a good many rags; so that Shakspere, with the knowledge of natural history which always distinguished him, was quite right when he said—

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