ANGOLAN VULTURE.
A common West African bird, living upon fish and carrion.
Very different from the free-roving golden eagle and its allies is the South American Harpy-eagle. This is a denizen of the forest, of great size and enormous strength, as the powerful bill and feet testify. Whilst other eagles are conspicuous for their powers of flight, the present species is rarely seen on the wing, being strictly a forest-dweller, with short wings and tail, and of a somewhat owl-like plumage, the feathers being very soft. At rest it is one of the most striking of all the eagles. The head is crested, the under parts of the body are white, and the upper dark grey, banded with black. It feeds upon sloths, peccaries, and spider-monkeys.
Photo by W. P. Dando, F.Z.S.] [Regent's Park.
PONDICHERRY VULTURE.
This Indian species is remarkable for the loose flaps of skin which hang down on each side of the head.
So recently as 1897 another forest-dwelling species was discovered in the Philippines, and this also preys largely upon monkeys. Its nearest ally is apparently the harpy-eagle, and, like this species, it is a bird of large size and very powerful. It is further remarkable for the enormous size of the beak, which differs from that of all other members of this group in being much compressed from side to side.
The sea, as well as the mountain and the forest, is also, as it were, presided over by members of this group, which are in consequence called Sea-eagles. One species, the White-tailed Eagle, or Erne, is reckoned among British birds, though it is fast verging on extinction. In former days it bred on the sea-cliffs of Scotland and Ireland, and in the Lake District. The nest, or eyrie, as it is called, is commonly placed on inaccessible cliffs, but sometimes on the ground or in a tree, and, as is usual with the group, is made of sticks, with a lining of finer materials. This eagle feeds principally upon fish, though hares, lambs, and rabbits and carrion are occasionally taken.
The Hawk Tribe, generally speaking, have the wings comparatively short, the legs long and slender, and the edges of the beak with a sinuous outline and unnotched; but it is impossible to sharply define the group. The best-known species are the Sparrow- and Gos-hawks. The first named is still a common British bird, but the latter has now become very rare indeed. In both species the male is a much smaller bird than the female, and is also more brightly coloured. The Gos-hawk was at one time used in falconry; it is a bird of extremely ferocious disposition, and in the days when hawks were used for sporting purposes had to be kept very safely tethered, as, if it gained its liberty, it would at once proceed to kill every other hawk and falcon in the "mews."