File:The royal natural history (1893) (14784494872).jpg

Identifier: royalnaturalhist47lyde (find matches)
Title: The royal natural history
Year: 1893 (1890s)
Authors: Lydekker, Richard, 1849-1915 Sclater, Philip Lutley, 1829-1913 Frostick, W. B., former owner. DSI Brooks, W. T., former owner. DSI
Subjects: Zoology Natural history
Publisher: London and New York : Frederick Warne & Co.
Contributing Library: Smithsonian Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: Smithsonian Libraries

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laces.In addition to reptiles, it eats large insects and frogs, catching the latter in tanks.It nests in trees, laying two white eggs marked with a few dark specks.African Crested The handsome bird represented in the illustration on the following Eagle. page, and known as the African crested eagle (Lophoaetiis occipitalis),is the sole representative of a genus which brings us to the last group of theAquilinco; the members of that group difiering from all the preceding formsby the metatarsi being completely feathered throughout thcii- length. The African 2i6 DIURNAL BIRDS OF PREY. crested eagle belongs to a group of several genera characterised by the tail beingnearly square, or slightly rounded; while it is distinguished from all the others,with the exception of the true crested eagles, by the length of the interval betweenthe tips of the primaries and secondaries of the wings being inferior to that of themetatarsus. The great size and pendent character of the crest of the present r^^
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AFRICAN CRESTED EAGLE (J liat. size). bird at once serves to mark its distinctness from the members of the next genus.The nostrils are circular, the beak short, and the metatarsi of considerable length,with short feathers. In point of size the African crested eagle is somewhat inferiorto the red kite, the total length of the female being 21 inches. The general colourof the plumage is chocolate-brown, with some of the feathers on the back andwing - coverts paler and the head darker, with a black crest. The forehead andlegs are whitish, and there are a few white spots on the upper tail-coverts, while CRESTED EAGLES. 217 the under wing-coverts are also mostly white. The tail has dark bars. The billis bluish, with a black tip; the cere and feet are yellow, and the claws black.This eagle is one of the most widely distributed of African Accipitrines, rang-ing all over that continent, from the Cape to the Red Sea, wherever there arewooded districts. It frequents mountains and plains alike; a

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