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Show 1866.J MR. H. E. DRESSER ON THE BOOTED EAGLE. 379 dation of the nest itself were two nests of Passer hispaniolensis, neither of which, however, contained eggs, the one being only half finished. In the branches close to the Eagle's nest were several more Sparrows' nests ; and in a rotten limb a few feet below was a new nest of Picus minor, and close to it an old nest of the same bird. The eggs of Aquila pennata, which now are (with the exception of the nest-stains) pure white, were, when quite fresh, white with a faint greenish tinge. In shape and size they much resemble the eggs of Astur palumbarius ; but the shell is somewhat more coarsegrained. The above-mentioned eggs were quite fresh, one of them having probably been laid the previous day. Having rested myself and scribbled down the above notes, I descended the tree, getting down with much greater facility and speed than I ascended. Manuel had gone off; so I sat and waited for him, and in the meantime noted down the colours of the cere, iris, &c. of the bird itself, which I copy as follows :-Cere and feet light wax-yellow ; claws black ; beak at cere light blue, darkening towards the tip into a dark horn-blue colour; iris light brown. Having done this I sat down and watched what birds were to be seen. In the distance I could hear the " hoop, hoop " of the Hoopoe ; and a Roller came and perched on a tree not far off. Before long Picus minor made his appearance, and seemed not a little satisfied that his home had remained undisturbed. High above me the mate of the wounded Eagle was circling, keeping, however, so far off that there was no chance of obtaining a shot at him. After waiting a short time I heard some one pushing his way through the brambles ; and soon after, Manuel appeared, bringing with him a nest and four eggs of Fringilla carduelis that he had found. • He proposed that we should skirt along the river-bank, and thought that he knew of a place where we might find Caprimulgus ruficollis. W e were, however, not fortunate enough to find any, although we searched carefully for some time. At one place on the river-bank we found a colony of Merops api-aster, numbering some 200 or 300, preparing their nests in a sandy bank, but we were too early to find any eggs. After walking along the river-side for nearly an hour, and finding three nests of Milvus migrans and two of Milvus regalis, we saw, in a huge old white elm tree overhanging the river, a nest which Manuel assured m e was that of a Booted Eagle, and which he thought probable might contain something. W e pelted the nest for some time, but no bird left it; and getting tired of pelting, I at last fired a charge of dust-shot at the nest, with, however, no effect beyond that of driving out several Sparrows, which evidently had nests in its foundation. I therefore concluded that there was no bird on the nest, and proposed that we should search further ; but Manuel refused, saying that he thought it worth while to climb up to the nest, it being his turn. |