BONELLIS EAGLE.

Aquila Bonelli.
L’Aigle Bonelli.

M. Temminck was, we believe, the first to make known this elegant species of Eagle as an occasional visitant
in Europe. The number of examples which have come under our notice within the last few years induce us
to believe it to be much more common than is generally suspected ; it is, however, more particularly an African
species, though its range appears to be extensive, as it may be frequently met with in collections from India.
Several living specimens have at various times been received by the Zoological Society, and appeared to bear
confinement equally well with others of the same genus. All these, we may observe, were received from
Africa, and it is from one of them that our figure is taken; and from the circumstance of its having been an
inhabitant of the menagerie for at least two or three years, we may reasonably conclude that it has nearly
attained its adult colouring. ‘There appears to be no other species of the group that exhibits so many and
varied changes as the present bird, and in fact specimens are to be found of all shades, from a uniform tint of
rich fulvous over the under surface to white or nearly so, with merely the centre of the feather striped with
dark brown, and even much lighter than the birds represented in our Plate. M.Temminck having described
these changes with considerable minuteness, we take the liberty of subjoining his description in full.

Adult male. ‘‘ Upper surface brown, more or less deep, without any well-defined markings ; under surface
rust red, more or less bright, the shaft of all the feathers dark brown; tail uniform ash colour or slightly
reddish with a terminal band of brown, or marked with distant brown bands ; cere and toes yellow; irides
nut brown; total length two feet.”

Adult female. ‘‘ Upper surface blackish brown ; cheeks, throat, front and sides of the neck rust red, marked
with small brown stripes along the stem of each feather; the remainder of the under surface of a duller rust
red, each feather having a large longitudinal brown stripe, with the shaft black ; similar markings appear on
the feathers of the tarsus; inferior wing-coverts black ; base of the primaries and secondaries deep grey
marbled with black ; tips of the primaries entirely black ; tail pure ash, faintly banded or nearly uniform ; all
the quills with a large blackish band near the tip, which is more or less whitish; beak black at the tip, and
greenish towards the base; toes yellowish ; total length from two feet to two feet six inches.

«‘A specimen probably younger presented the following appearances: head, neck, back, scapularies and
wings ash brown, marked along the shafts with blackish brown; all the great coverts, scapularies, and quills
marked at intervals with very large black bands disposed in zigzags; the primaries and secondaries white, on
the interior webs rayed with blackish bands ; all the tail-feathers are ash brown above with nine or ten trans-
verse bands, the intervening spaces being twice as wide as the bands ; all these feathers are terminated with
golden red more or less bright ; beneath, the tail is whitish with a tint of red, and faint indications of trans-
verse bands ; front of the neck and chest clear red, with the stems of the feathers brown; thighs, feathers on
the tarsus, abdomen, and under tail-coverts dirty white clouded with red and without spots.

We have figured an adult male about two thirds of the natural size.

ee