HIERAETUS.
Nostrils long and oval ; legs very long; tarsi feathered to toes which are large and stout ; claws very large, strong, and curved; of powerful flight, hunting like Falcons and Hawks; nest in cliffs or trees; eggs two, bluish white, slightly marked rufous.
Hieraetus fasciatus fasciatus (Vieillot). BONELLI'S EAGLE. Fr. Aigle h queue barree ; Ger. Habichtsadler ; Ital. Aquila del Bonelli.
? Above brown, feathers white at bases ; beneath white with narrow dark shaft streaks broadening to a long drop ; under wing coverts black and white ; tail dull grey with faint black bars and terminal band. Bill blue grey, tip darker. Toes yellowish. Iris orange to dark yellow. Wing S 460-490, 500-550. Tarsus 92-97. Bill 27-35. Middle toe with claw 65. Young : paler brown, reddish on head ; beneath (including under wing coverts and axillaries) reddish buff to red brown with black shaft streaks except on abdomen and under tail coverts and generally thighs.
Resident.—S. France, Spain, Portugal, N.W. Africa, Sardinia, Corsica, Sicily, Greece to Rumania, Egypt and Nubia, Asia Minor and S.W. Asia to India and China.
Hieraetus pennatus (Gmelin) BOOTED EAGLE. Fr. Aigle botti.e ; Ger. Zwergadler ; //d/. Aquila minore.
6 9 2 plumages. (I) Above mottled dark and light brown, paler and redder on head, shaft streaks darker, in some a patch of white on scapulars ; beneath white, some very fulvous, with darker shaft streaks. (4) All dark brown, mottled with pale brown on upper parts, secondaries pale ; dark shaft streaks on under parts. Bill bluish horn. tip black. Cere and feet yellow. Iris yellowish, in young brown. Wing d 355-380, 9 390-415. Tarsus 58-62. Bill 22-27.
Breeds.—Mountains and forests of C. and S. France, Spain, Portugal, N.W. Africa (Tunis to Morocco), Sicily, Poland, Austria, and Hungary to Rumania and S. Russia ; also S.W. Asia to India. Migrates ; occurs on passage in Sardinia (rare), Italy, Greece ; in winter Egypt, Nubia, N.E. Africa, and India.