ʿUqāb-i māh-dum, “The Moon-tailed Eagle.”—The whole of the tail of this eagle is white, with the exception of the end, which is black. The plumage of the breast, back, and head, is uniformly dark, without markings of any description. Its powers of fasting are extraordinary: it can endure seven or eight days without food and yet be not one whit the worse. Migration, too, is not a necessity for it. Even in the depth of Winter I have observed it high up in the snows. It seldom descends into the plains. The fierce rays of the sun and the bitter blasts of the snows are all one to its proud, enduring nature. I have observed it in the hills, preying on partridges, hares, and “lambs.”[124] It is the most daring and powerful of all the eagles.
ʿUqāb-i kūchigān [White-tailed Sea Eagle?].—The next species is the ʿUqāb-i kūchigān. In this species the whole of the tail (which is rather short) is white. The wings are long, and the flight is exceedingly swift. The plumage of the back and breast is dark. The beak, which is large and powerful as a vulture’s, is of the colour of amber. This eagle always hunts and feeds in couples, preying chiefly on water-fowl; hence it is seldom found far from water.
ʿUqāb-i ā,īna-lī [Imperial Eagle?].—In this eagle, which is smaller than either of the preceding, the back, breast, claws and beak are all uniformly dark; the colouring of the head is a dark reddish brown. Fowlers have named it Ā,īna-lī[125] from the fact of its having a few white feathers in its back.
Karlak.—This eagle equals the first-named species, i.e., the Māh-dum, in size. The beak and claws are black and extraordinarily powerful. The plumage is generally brown, and covered with markings. The head and back are, however, one uniform colour. In habits it resembles all the eagles.
Black Eagle.—Another species is black without markings, but the colour of the head is slightly different from that of the body. It is not a very noble species.
ʿUqāb-i zard (“Yellow Eagle.”)—Description. The plumage of the back is very dark, with a tinge of yellow in it, while that of the breast is tawny (yellow), and marked with longitudinal black drops. The head and neck are very handsome, and somewhat like a goshawk’s. This eagle, in the immature plumage, is called the ʿUqāb-i sīna-bāzī.
Once, when in attendance on the Shāh, I trained a single specimen of this species, and took a certain amount of quarry with it.
Būq-k͟hura; The “Frog-eater” [Spotted Eagle?].—Another species of eagle is the ʿUqāb-i qurbāqa-chī[126] (“Frog-eater”), called by the people of Kurdistan Sulemāniya, Būq-k͟hura.[126] The plumage of the head, neck, back, and breast is blackish yellow. This eagle frequents marshes and reed beds, preying on wounded or dead water-fowl. Failing these, it contents itself with frogs, dead fish, or other stranded material. It is from this habit of eating frogs that it has earned its names of “Frog-eagle” and “Frog-eater.”
Dūbarār [A Hawk-Eagle?].—In habits the Dūbarār resembles the eagles, but not in size, the male being scarcely larger than a female goshawk.[127] This species always hunts in couples and is very daring and bold by nature. In the immature bird, the plumage of the back is a yellowish black, while that of the breast is a dark red without spot or marking. After the moult, the plumage of the breast assumes a deeper and brighter hue. The “pendant”[128] feathers of the thigh hang down to the tarsus.
When in ʿArabistān,[129] I once took one with a chark͟h I had trained to eagles. I succeeded in training it in the space of about forty days and flew it successfully at black partridge, parah malā,[130] hare, and common heron.[131] A friend of mine then took it from me.