Not having enjoyed an opportunity of seeing this bird in a state of nature, I must now avail myself of
the notes of those who have been more fortunately situated.

“The Spotted Eagle appears to be rare in Spain,” says Lord Lilford, ‘and : ie saw it alive in any
part of the country ; but there was a specimen in the University Museum at Seville, said to have been sailed
near that town, and I found another in the collection at Valencia. I do not find this species mentioned
in any of the Spanish Catalogues of the Birds of Andalucia or Valencia. It 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 olen to Epirus. I never saw one of this species, except in or near marshes; and it is
certainly the most tree-loving Eagle with which I am acquainted.

ine The Ibis’ for 1861, Mr. Simpson says :—‘‘ The Aquila nevia mostly haunts the plateau or open
down-country of the Dobrudscha, and places its nest upon the ground. I found, or was directed to, no
Jess than four, two of which were on the ground under the shelter of bushes, and two were on the
bare plain. Out of 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 of a few sticks with a lining of wool carefully arranged. In one was a coloured
piece of 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 Ibis’ (1869), Mr. C. Farman remarks that the bird is ‘* not uncommon
in any part of Central Bulgaria, but is most numerous in the neighbourhood of 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. It 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 1865 I observed a nest of this bird placed on an ash-tree overhanging the stream at the

southern entrance of the Pravidy valley : it was more neatly put together than most Eagles’ nests, and was

-warnily and softly lined with blossoms of the ash-tree ; it contained one young bird just hatched, and two

eggs already cracked by the young birds within. On the edge of the nest were the two fore legs of a
leveret.”

“The Aquila nevia,” says Dr. Adams, ‘is the most common Eagle in Egypt, and is very generally dis-
tributed over the country. It may often be seen in fields, hunting after reptiles and small quadrupeds, or
feeding on fish on the sandbanks. I found portions of a large snake in one killed near Thebes, and on
another occasion surprised a pair intently devouring a large Lepidote (Characinus dentex, Sav.).”—The
Ibis, 1864.

‘* Kgypt seems to be the favourite winter-quarters of 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 of 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 immature bird. With the exception, perhaps, of Circaetus gallicus, the species is
much tamer and more easily approached than any other large raptorial bird in Egypt.”—R. C. Tayzor, in
‘ The Ibis,’ 1867.

Aquila nevia, though only a cold-weather visitant to the north-western provinces of India, breeds on the
side of the Himalayas in the Sahrunpore 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 of those I shot were often covered with mud; and their crops could
hardly have held another frog.’”—Brooks, in ‘ The Ibis,’ 1868.

The Plate represents a young bird, about two-thirds of the natural size, with a very much reduced figure
of the adult in the distance. ;