. Cassell's book of birds . ng measures nineteen and the tail six inches. The Screaming Sea Eagle was first seen by Le Vaillant in South Africa, afterwards by othertravellers in Western Africa, and by ourselves in the interior of that continent, where it appeared tolive exclusively upon the banks of the Blue and White Nile. Le Vaillant, on the contrary, found iton the sea-coast, and only exceptionally near large rivers. It is, however, in the primitive forests of 28 IKJi >K OF lilRDS. Soudan that these beautiful birds are seen in their full glory, and, as they perch side by side
. Cassell's book of birds . ng measures nineteen and the tail six inches. The Screaming Sea Eagle was first seen by Le Vaillant in South Africa, afterwards by othertravellers in Western Africa, and by ourselves in the interior of that continent, where it appeared tolive exclusively upon the banks of the Blue and White Nile. Le Vaillant, on the contrary, found iton the sea-coast, and only exceptionally near large rivers. It is, however, in the primitive forests of 28 IKJi >K OF lilRDS. Soudan that these beautiful birds are seen in their full glory, and, as they perch side by side amongthe foliage, afford a spectacle that cannot fail to rivet the travellers attention, even should he havebeen long accustomed to the wonders of the African continent. In its life and habits this speciesresembles its congeners. It lives in pairs, each couple occupying a certain district, usually about half amile in extent; over this they range from early morning till noon, when they rise into the air and enter- ■h. >. ^\ \ vx > iff THE WHITE-HEADED SEA EAGLE {Haliaelos leztcoceplialus) tain themselves with a variety of evolutions, meanwhile uttering yells that can be heard at a consider-able distance. During the afternoon and evening, they sit side by side upon the branch of a treeoccasionally bowing their heads, spreading their tails like a fan over the extremities of their wings,and screaming loudly should any strange object appear. Each couple has a favourite resting-place,to which they resort with unfailing regularity. At night they prefer to seek shelter in the inmostrecesses of their leafy retreats. We found these birds so entirely without fear at the approach of. man as to allow a shot to whistle past them without any indication of alarm : nevertheless, Le BIRDS OF PREY. 29 Vaillant speaks of them as shy and cautious. The food of the Screaming Sea Eagle consists of fishand carrion, the former is obtained by swooping upon it from a considerable height; the prey
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Keywords: ., bookauthorbreh, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, booksubjectbirds
