Part 76

SP. CHAR. Young female(?) (28,100, Amoor River; Mr. Burlingame). Form: very similar to H. albicilla and H. leucocephala, but bill altogether more robust, and feet rather less so, than in these. Tail, of fourteen feathers! graduated for about one half its length. Dimensions: About the size of the female of the two other species. Color: Generally dusky vandyke-brown, a medial line on the lanceolate feathers of the neck, and the border of the squamate ones of the tibiæ, decidedly lighter. Entire plumage white at the base, this exposed wherever the feathers are disarranged, and prevailing on the crissum. Tertials, basal half of inner webs of primaries, the whole tail, and upper tail-coverts, white with a yellowish tinge. Tertials, upper tail-coverts, and tail-feathers, with a large terminal spot of clear grayish-black; on the tail these form a rather irregular terminal zone, being on the middle feather narrower, and broken into fine blotches. Bill, cere, lore, and feet, yellow; end of upper mandible, and the claws, black. Wing-formula, 3, 4, 2, 5–6–7=1. Wing, 24.50; tail, 13.50; culmen, 2.60; depth of bill, 1.80; cere, on top, 1.10; tarsus, 3.50; middle toe, 2.95.

Haliaetus albicilla (LINN.).

GRAY SEA-EAGLE.

Aquila albicilla, BRISS. Orn. I, 427, 1760.—PALL. Zoog. Ross. As. I, 345, 1811.—BENICK. Isis, 1824, pp. 878, 892.—SWAINS. Classif. B. II, 207, 1837.—KUHL. Beiträg. Zool. pt. i, p. 76 (anat.), 1820.—TYZENHAUZ, Rev. Zoöl. 1848, p. 235.—BAILLY, Orn. Sav. I, 110, 1853.—S. LONGCH. Faun. Belg. p. 53, 1842. Vultur albicilla, LINN. Syst. Nat. p. 123, 1766. Falco albicilla, PENN. Brit. Zoöl. p. 61, pl. A, 1812; ed. 8vo, 1812, I, 209, pl. xviii.—GMEL. Syst. Nat. p. 253, 1789.—LATH. Ind. Orn. I, 9, 1790; Syn. I, 33, 1781; Supp. I, 11, 1802; Gen. Hist. I, 46 A, 1821.—ODMANN, Nov. Act. Soc. Ups, IV, 225.—SHAW, Zoöl. VII, 79, 1812.—TEMM. Man. Orn. pt. i, 49; pt. iii, 26, 1820; Tab. Méth. p. 3, 1836.—KITTL. Kupf. Vög. pl. ii, f. 2, 1832.—BRUNN. Orn. Bor. p. 3, 1764.—FABER, Prod. Island, Orn. p. 1, 1822.—NAUM. Nat. Vög. Deutschl. ed. nov. I, 224, pls. xii, xiii, xiv, 1822; Nachtr. p. 330, pl. ix, f. 17.—FRISCH, Vög. Deutschl. pl. lxix, 70, 1739. Haliaëtus albicilla, CUV. Reg. Anim. (ed. 1), I, 315, 1817; (ed. 2), I, 336, 1829.—BENN. Gard. Zoöl. Soc. II, 33, 1831.—WERN. Atl. Ois. Eur. 1826.—LESS. Man. Orn. I, 85, 1828.—VIG. Raffl. Life, p. 648. SELBY, Brit. Orn. I, 18, pl. iii, iii^x, 1833.—GOULD, B. Eur. pl. x, 1837.—BONAP. Eur. & N. Am. B. p. 3, 1838; Cat. Ucc. Eur. p. 19, 1842; Consp. Av. p. 15, 1850; Rev. et Mag. Zoöl. p. 531, 1854.—CASS. B. Calif. & Tex. I, p. 111, 1854.—GRAY, Gen. B. p. 3; ed. 2, p. 4; fol. sp. 1, pl. vii, fig. 8.—BREHM. Vög. Deutschl. I, 14, pl. iii, f. 1, 1831.—CASS. Birds N. Am. 43, 1858.—SCLAT. Pr. Z. S. 1863, 257 (found in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia—this disproven!).—ELLIOT, Birds N. A. I. Haliaëtus albicilla, GRAY, Hand List, I, 16, 1869. Aquila ossifraga, BRISS. Orn. I, p. 437 (Juv.), 1760.—KUHL, Beiträg. Zoöl. pt. i, p. 60, pl. iv, figs. 1, 3, 3; pl. v, f. 1. Falco ossifragus, LINN. Syst. Nat. p. 124, 1766.—GMEL. Syst. Nat. p. 255, 1789.—LATH. Ind. Orn. p. 12, 1790; Syn. I, 30, 1781; Supp. I, 9, 1802; Gen. Hist. I, 48 (Juv.), 1821.—DAUD. Tr. Orn. II, 64, 1800.—SHAW, Zoöl. VII, pl. xviii, 1809.—RAFFL. LINN. Tr. VIII, 277 (var.). Aquila leucocephala, MEYER, Taschenb. Deutsch. Vögelk. p. 16, 1810. Falco melanotus, GMEL. Syst. Nat. p. 254, 1789. Falco albicaudus, GMEL. Syst. Nat. p. 258, 1789. Falco hinularius, LATH. Ind. Orn. p. 15, 1790; Syn. I, 39, sp. 16, 1781; Gen. Hist. I, 47 B, 1821.—SHAW, Zoöl. VII, 80, 1809. Falco pygargus, DAUD. Tr. Orn. II, 62, 1800. Falco albicilla borealis, FABER, Isis, 1827, p. 56; Prod. Island, Orn. p. 1, 1822. Haliætus nisus, SAVIG. Descr. Egyp. pt. i, 86, 1809.—VIEILL. Faun. Franç. p. 10, pl. v, figs. 1, 2.—DEGL. Mém. Soc. Sc. Lille, 1831, p. 213.—LESS. Tr. Orn. p. 40, pl. viii, fig. 2, 1831.—ROUX, Orn. Prod. I, 16, pl. ix, x, 1825.

SP. CHAR. Adult male (56,034, Europe; Schlüter Collection). Plumage almost continuously umber-brown, becoming black on the primaries; on the head and neck approaching pale grayish-brown. Tail (but not the coverts) white, much mottled with dusky at base; shafts of the quills white. Wing-formula, 3–2=4–5–6, 1. Wing, 23.00; tail, 11.50; culmen, 2.20; depth of bill, 1.45; cere, above, .85; tarsus, 3.30; middle toe, 2.50; outer, 2.00; inner, 1.70; posterior, 1.40. Bill and feet yellow.

Young. Head and neck blackish-brown, feathers whitish beneath the surface, the long pencillate feathers of the nape tipped inconspicuously with the same; prevailing color of the upper surface isabella-color (much more reddish than in corresponding age of leucocephalus) each feather with a terminal triangular spot of blackish-brown; tertials more whitish. Secondaries rich dark brown; primaries deep black, their shafts dark brown. Tail brownish-black much spotted with isabella-color, or soiled creamy-white, this occupying most of the inner webs. Breast soiled white, each feather with a conspicuous broad medial stripe of brownish-black; abdomen more fulvous; tibiæ nearly uniform dark brown. Rump nearly uniform vinaceous-fulvous. Bill black. Feet yellow.

Male (56,037, North Europe; Schlütter Coll.). Wing, 26.00; tail, 12.50; culmen, 2.20.

Female (56,039, North of Europe; Schlütter Coll.). Wing, 28.00; tail, 16.00; culmen, 2.45; depth of bill, 1.55; cere above, .70; tarsus, 3.65; middle toe, 3.50.

Hab. Europe and in Greenland.

LIST OF SPECIMENS EXAMINED.

National Museum, 3; Philadelphia Academy, 3; New York Museum, 2; Boston Society, 2; Cambridge Museum, 1. Total, 11.

Measurements.

+------+-----------+-----------+---------+---------+---------+----------+ | Sex. | Wing. | Tail. | Culmen. | Tarsus. | Middle |Specimens.| | | | | | | Toe. | | +------+-----------+-----------+---------+---------+---------+----------+ |♂ Ad. |23.00–24.00| 11.50–0.00|2.10–2.20|3.30–3.70|2.50–2.85| 2 | +------+-----------+-----------+---------+---------+---------+----------+ |♂ Juv.|24.75–26.00| 12.50–0.00|2.05–2.20|3.80–0.00|2.70–0.00| 2 | +------+-----------+-----------+---------+---------+---------+----------+ |♀ Juv.|27.80–28.00|14.00–16.00|2.20–2.45|3.50–3.65|2.95–3.50| 2 | +------+-----------+-----------+---------+---------+---------+----------+

HABITS. The White-tailed or Gray Sea Eagle is common to the sea-coast of Europe, where it inhabits only the parts of the country adjacent to the sea, and rears its young on the cliffs. It occurs in Greenland, and is on that ground included in the fauna of North America. It has not yet been traced south of Greenland, nor has it been found in any part of our continent.

The Sea Eagle in Europe is rarely found inland. It builds its nest on rocky cliffs projecting over the water, on the shores of Scotland, the Orkney and Shetland Islands, Norway, Russia, etc. The nest is constructed of sticks, or, where these are not convenient, of seaweed. The eggs are two or three in number. Their ground-color is a clear white, usually unmarked, but occasionally stained with small, faint spots of light brown. The measurements of two in my collection, both from Scotland, but obtained at different times by H. F. Walter, Esq., of London, are as follows: Length 2.69 inches, breadth 2.19 inches; length 2.13 inches, breadth 2.25 inches.

The following, in relation to their breeding and distribution, is taken from Mr. Yarrell’s excellent work on the Birds of Great Britain:—

“The White-tailed Eagle builds its nest on high rocks, and lays two eggs, about the same size of those of the Golden Eagle, but with very little or no red color on the white ground. The young are at first covered with a soiled white down, and even at this age the beaks and claws of the eaglets are of very large size. A pair of Golden Eagles have been known to rear their young in the same spot for eight seasons in succession; and Mr. Mudie has mentioned that, being thus attached to a particular locality, their young, when able to provide for themselves, are driven away by the parent birds to get their living elsewhere; but the more erratic White-tailed Eagles, quitting the breeding station when the season is ended, leave their young to forage over the district in which they have been raised. In confinement, the White-tailed Eagle sometimes becomes sociable.... One kept by Mr. Hoy laid three eggs in the same season; and a female in the possession of Mr. Selby laid an egg after having been kept in confinement twenty years.... The White-tailed Eagle breeds in the Hebrides, in Orkney and Shetland. Mr. Dunn, in his useful Guide to these latter islands, names the particular localities in which they may be found, but states that they are much more numerous in winter than in summer. This accords with the opinion of Mr. Temminck and others that this species returns to the southward from high northern latitudes as the season advances.... This Eagle frequents Denmark, Sweden, the west coast of Norway, and from thence as far north as Iceland and Greenland, but is not found in North America. Mr. Temminck believes that this Eagle follows the flocks of geese that annually resort to the Arctic regions in summer to rear their young. It is found in Siberia, at Lake Baikal, and inhabits Russia, from whence to the southward it is spread over the European continent generally.”

Haliaëtus leucocephalus (LINN.).

BALD EAGLE; AMERICAN EAGLE.

Aquila leucocephala, BRISS. Orn. I, 422, 1760.—VIEILL. Ois. Am. Sept. pl. iii, 1807.—PALLAS, Zoog. Ross. As. I, 347, 1811.—SWAINSON, Classif. B. II, 207, 1837; Anim. Menag. 106, 1838.—S. LONGCH. Faun. Belg. 53, 1842. Falco leucocephalus, LINN. Syst. Nat. 124, 1766.—GMEL. Syst. Nat. 255, 1789.—LATH. Ind. Orn. 11, 1790; Syn. I, 29, 1781; Supp. p. 9, 1802; Gen. Hist. I, 45, 1821.—PENN. Arct. Zoöl. pp. 194 and 196, 1785.—WILS. Am. Orn. pl. xxxvi, 1808.—TEMM. Man. Orn. pt. i, 52; pt. ii, 27, 1820; Tab. Méth. 3, 1836.—SHAW, Zoöl. VII, 78, 1809.—BONAP. Ann. Lyc. N. Y. II, 26.—GREEN, Silliman’s Am. Journ. IV, 89; Isis, 1832, p. 1136.—AUD. Orn. Biog. I, 160, 1831; Birds Am. pl. xxxi, 1831.—BREWER, (WILS.) Am. Orn. Synop. 683, 1852. Haliaëtus leucocephalus, SAVIG.—CUV. Règ. An. (ed. 2), I, 326.—LESS. Tr. Orn. p. 40, 1831.—STEPH. Zoöl. XIII, pt. 2, p. 13, 1826.—JAMES. (WILS.) Am. Orn. I, 21, 33, 1808.—JARD. (WILS.) Orn. II, 89, 307.—RICH. F. B. A. II, 15, 1831.—BENNETT, Gard. Zoöl. Soc. II, 37, 1831.—BONAP. Eur. & N. Am. B. 3, 1838; Cat. Ucc. Eur. 19, 1842; Consp. Av. 15, 1850; Rev. et Mag. Zoöl. 1854, p. 531.—MAX. Cab. Journ. VI, 1858, 3.—BLAKISTON, Ibis, III, 1861, 320.—DRESSER, Ibis, 1865, 328 (Texas, breeding).—GOULD, B. Eur. pl. xi, 1837.—GRAY, Gen. B. fol. sp. 3, 1844; List Birds Brit. Mus. 2, 1844.—AUD. Synopsis Birds Am. 10, 1839.—NUTTALL, Man. Orn. U. S. & Canad. 72, 1833.—PEALE, U. S. Expl. Exp. 71, 1848.—PEAB. Birds Mass. 73, 1841.—GIRAUD, Birds Long Island, 9, 1844.—WOODH. Sit. Expl. Zuñ. & Colorad. 59, 1853.—CASSIN, B. Calif. & Tex. I, 111, 1854.—DE KAY, Zoöl. N. Y. II, 5, pl. i, f. 1, 1844.—HEERM. P. R. R. Rept. VII, 30, 1857.—NEWB. P. R. R. Rept. VI, 75, 1857.—WERN. Atl. Ois. Eur. 1826.—BREHM, Vögel Deutschl. 17, 1831.—CASS. Birds N. Am. 1858, 43.—COOP. & SUCK. P. R. R. Rept. XII, ii, 151, 1860.—COUES, Prod. B. Ariz. 13, 1866. Haliaëtus leucocephalus, GRAY, Hand List, I, 16 (1869). Falco candidus, GMEL. Syst. Nat. 258, 1789.—LATH. Ind. Orn. 14, 1790; Syn. I, 36, 1781; Gen. Hist. I, 240, 1821.—DAUD. Tr. Orn. II, 51, 1800.—VIEILL. Ois. Am. Sept. I, 30, 1807. Falco pygargus, DAUD. Tr. Orn. II, 62, 1800. Falco ossifragus, WILS. Am. Orn. pl. lv, f. 2 (Juv.), 1808. Falco leucogaster, LATH. Gen. Hist. I, 242, 1821. Vultur albicilla, FABER, Faun. Grœnl. 53, 1780. Falco washingtoni, AUD. Mag. Nat. Hist. ser. 1, I, 1828, 115.—IB. Orn. Biog. I, 58; Birds Am. pl. xi.—BREWER, (WILS.) Am. Orn. 683.—JAMES. (WILS.) Am. Orn. IV, 261. Haliaëtus washingtoni, JARD. (WILS.) Am. Orn. II, 92.—BONAP. List, 1838, 3.—GRAY, Gen. fol. sp. 4.—AUD. Synop. Birds Am. 10.—CASS. B. CAL. & Tex. 110.—IB. Birds N. Am. 1858, 42.—STRICKL. Orn. Syn. I, 51, No. 82. Falco washingtonianus, NUTT. MAN. pl. lxvii. Haliaëtus leucocephalus, BREWER, Oölogy, 1851, 48, pl. iv, f. 37.

SP. CHAR. Adult. Entire head and neck, upper and lower tail-coverts, and tail, immaculate pure white. Rest of the plumage brownish-black, the feathers fading toward the edges, these paler borders being most conspicuous on the upper surface. Primaries uniform deep black. Bill, cere, superciliary shield, and feet, deep chrome-yellow; iris Naples-yellow. Male (12,017, Philadelphia; C. Drexler). Wing, 22.00; tail, 10.50; culmen, 1.90; top of cere, .80; depth of bill, 1.30; tarsus, 3.00; middle toe, 2.60; outer, 2.00; inner, 1.50; posterior, 1.30. Wing-formula, 3=4–5, 2–6; 1=7. Female (11,986, Philadelphia; C. Drexler). Wing, 25.00; tail, 12.75; culmen, 2.20; top of cere, .80; tarsus, 3.10; middle toe, 2.85. Wing-formula, 3=4, 5–2–6–7–1, 8. Young. Second year (?) (No. 58,977, Mount Carmel, Wabash County, Illinois, Dec.; D. Ridgway). Head and neck brownish-black, white beneath the surface, the penicillate ones of the nape tipped with pale brown. Prevailing color of other portions blackish-brown, inclining to umber on the dorsal region, wing-coverts, and lower parts; all the feathers white at their roots, this much exposed on the lower parts, where the brown forms tear-shaped terminal spots; axillars and lining of the wing white, each feather of the latter region with a medial lanceolate stripe of blackish-brown. Primaries and tail brownish-black; inner webs of secondaries and tail-feathers spattered longitudinally with creamy-white. Bill and cere black; iris brown; feet yellow. Wing, 25.50; tail, 15.00; culmen, 2.10; tarsus, 3.10; middle toe, 2.60.

Young, first year (No. 41,595, Eastern United States?). Whole plumage nearly uniformly black, this very continuous above; beneath, the basal white is much exposed, producing a somewhat spotted appearance. Primaries and tail deep black, the inner webs of the latter sprinkled with cream-color.

Young in down (Washington, D. C.). Downy covering uniform deep sooty-gray; the sprouting feathers on wings, etc., all brownish-black.

Specimens from the Pacific Coast have the plumage rather deeper black; but scarcely any other differences are appreciable. Measurements of specimens are as follows:—

“Male” (?) (45,838, Sitka; Bischoff). Wing, 24.50; tail, 12.50; culmen, 2.00.

Female (45,835, Sitka; Bischoff). Wing, 25.00; tail, 12.50; culmen, 2.20.

Of these, the male is continuous deep black, the head, neck, tail, and tail-coverts pure white in sharp contrast; the female is less continuously black,—more so, however, than in eastern specimens; the white portions are as pure as in the male.

An immature bird (9,130, Shoalwater Bay, W. T., Feb.; Dr. Cooper) is almost like the Illinois specimen described, but is somewhat larger, measuring, wing, 26.00; tail, 15.00; culmen, 2.20. It differs somewhat in plumage also, the lower parts being nearly uniformly light isabella-color, not variegated by the black spots; the whole wing (except the quills) is pale isabella-brown, the wing-coverts with terminal triangular spots of black; the back is also light-colored, like the wings.