Small Cape Eagle

This fine little eagle appears to have escaped the notice of Le Vaillant, and of all the other writers on the ornithology of the neighborhood of the Cape of Good Hope. It is, however, as we learn from Dr. Smith, its first, and hitherto sole describer, found throughout the whole of South Africa.

The length of this bird is about two feet four Inches. It feeds commonly upon carrion, and is generally found in company with vultures through-out the whole of South Africa. The young are of a uniform tawny chestnut color, and without the brown variations observed on the old. There is one of these birds in the London Zoological Gardens, of wnich the following mention is made: ” the beak is of a deep black; as are also the claws, the two outermost of which are small and but slightly arched, while the innermost is much elongated and curved.