General description. Adult bird. Young bird. never to be used, but for the purpose of tearing up their prey when dead. Part of the fur is generally swallowed, and afterwards disgorged with the bones, &c. in large pellets or castings, by the mouth; but they display some adroitness in skinning an animal, and birds are in general partially plucked with great dexterity. They rarely drink, but during the heat of summer are very partial to washing themselves. The Female becomes noisy at the approach of spring, and is observed to be particularly clamorous previous to wet or stormy weather. PLATE 1. A female bird.—Bill bluish at the base, the tip black. Cere lemon-yellow. Irides orange-brown. Primary quills black; the secondary ones clouded with hair-brown, broccoli-brown, and umber-brown. Crown of the head, and nape of the neck, pale orange-brown, the feathers occasionally margined with white, narrow, elongated and distinct. Chin and throat, dark umberbrown. Vent pale reddish-brown. Tail pale broccolibrown, barred with blackish-brown, and ending in a broad band of the same colour. Tarsi clothed with pale reddish-brown feathers. Toes naked, yellow. Claws black, very strong, and much hooked. PLATE 1. The same bird, in a different attitude. PLATE 2. Represents the young or immature bird of this species, generally known by the name of the Ring-tail Eagle, in about two-fifth parts of the natural size. This bird, of one year old, is now alive, and in the possession of Sir WILLIAM JARDINE, Bart. +. Bill having the + I have since had the gratification of witnessing the progressive changes from adolescence to maturity in this individual. It is almost unnecessary to add, that at the age of four years it exhibited the appropriate plumage of the Golden Eagle. base bluish-grey, and the rest black. Cere lemonyellow. Irides clear dark chesnut-brown. Forehead dark chesnut-brown. Crown of the head, and nape of the neck, yellowish-brown, inclining to pale orangebrown; the feathers narrow, distinct, and pointed. Throat and under part of the neck dark umber-brown. Breast and belly dark brown, with a few white feathers intermixed. Inside of the thighs white. Vent and under tail-coverts white, having some of the feathers tipped with brown. Back and wing coverts very intense umber-brown. Upper tail-coverts white, some of them being tipped with brown. Tail, for two-thirds of its length, white; the remainder (or end part) blackishbrown. Greater quills very intense brown, or blackish-brown, having their bases white. Secondaries, for two-thirds of their length from the base, white. Tarsus clothed with white feathers. Toes lemon-yellow. Claws black. GENUS HALIÆETUS, SAVIG. SEA-EAGLE. GENERIC CHARACTERS. BILL elongated, strong, straight at the base, curving in a regular arc in advance of the cere to the tip, and forming a deep hook. Culmen broad, and rather flattened. Tomia of the upper mandible slightly prominent behind the commencement of the hook. Nostrils large, transversely placed in the cere, and of a lunated shape. Wings ample; the fourth quill-feather the longest. Legs having the tarsi half feathered, the front of the naked part scutellated, and the sides and back reticulated. Toes divided to their origin; the outer one versatile. Claws strong and hooked, grooved VOL. I. B beneath; the claw of the hind toe larger than that of the inner, which again exceeds that of the middle and outer toes. This genus, of which our Sea-Eagle (Falco albicilla, Auct.) supplies an example, differs from the Ospreys or true fishing Eagles (genus Pandion, Savig.) in the form of the bill, and in the claws being grooved, and not rounded beneath; with that upon the inner toe being much larger and stronger than that of the outer, the contrary of which characterizes the genus Pandion. The plumage is also different in texture, being looser, and resembling that of the typical Eagles, and the thighs, instead of a covering of short and thick set feathers, are furnished with long plumes, a circumstance which indicates a difference of economy. The habits of this genus are less predatory, and their boldness is not so great as in the members of the genus Aquila, added to which, their aspect altogether approaches nearer to that of the Vultures. CINEREOUS SEA-EAGLE. Haliæetus alBICILLA, Mihi. PLATES III. and III *. Falco albicilla, Gmel. Syst. 1. p. 253.-Lath. Ind. Ornith. 1. p. 9. 2.— Vultur albicilla, Linn. Syst. 1. p. 123. 8. Aquilla albicilla seu Fygargus, Briss. Ornith. 1. p. 427. 5.-Will. Orn. p. 31.-Raii, Syn. p. 7. 5. Falco albicaudus, Gmel. p. 258. sp. 51. Le Grand Pygargue, Buff. Ois. vol. 1. p. 99. Syn. of Adult. Aigle Pygargue, Temm. Man d' Ornith. 1. p. 49. 2d ed. Fisch-Adler, Bechst. Tasch. Deut. v. 1. p. 10. sp. 5. White-tailed Eagle, Will. Angl. p. 61.-Bewick's Birds, 1. p. 9. Cinereous Eagle, Br. Zool. 1. No. 45. t. 18.—Arct. Zool. 2. p. 214. B.- Erne, Low's Fau. Orcad. p. 34. Falco Ossifragus, Linn. Syst. 1. p. 124. 3.-Gmel. Syst. 1. p. 255. 4.- Falco Melanæetus, Gmel. p. 254. Sp. 2.-Lath. Ind. Ornith. 1. p. 10. 3. Aquilla Ossifraga, Briss. 1. p. 437. 9. L'Orfraie, ou Grand Aigle de Mer, Buff. Ois. vol. 1. p. 112. t. 3.-Id. Pl. Enl. 112. yearling Bird.-Id. 415. the figure of one from two to three years old. Sea Eagle, Br. Zool. 1. No. 44. t. 17.—Ib. fol. t. 63.-Zool. 2. No. 86. A. PROVINCIAL-Erne or White-tailed Eagle. THE identity of the Cinereous and Sea Eagle is now so satisfactorily established, that I have, without any hesitation, brought the synonyms hitherto assigned to the two supposed species under the same head. To many,. it may appear singular that this fact should only now be fully ascertained; but when we consider the great impediments to the investigation of the natural history of these birds, arising from the wild and mountainous districts they inhabit, the difficulty of procuring specimens, and the few opportunities afforded, therefore, of watching the progress of the young bird to maturity; the slow advance of our knowledge in regard to this, as well as other facts connected with this branch of science, will rather be a matter of regret than surprise. Many of our ornithological works, also, can only be regarded as compilations from the essays of earlier authors, in which the errors, arising from such deficiency of information as must naturally attend the infancy of a new pursuit, may be expected; and which errors have too often, without any attempt at further scrutiny, been faithfully transcribed. The similarity in habits and manners, as well as in essential specific characters, between the Cinereous and Sea Eagle, first led me to suppose that they were of the same species, and that the difference of plumage might only proceed from the respective ages of the individuals, as appears Syn. of Young. in many other instances. An opportunity having occurred of watching the progress of the young Sea Eagle from its earliest age, I eagerly availed myself of it, and witnessed the gradual and interesting changes it underwent, till it had finally acquired the plumage of the adult or Cinereous Eagle. During this process, I was happy to find, that my supposition had been anticipated, and the fact ascertained in France, by that eminent naturalist Mons. CUVIER*, as well as by Mons. TEMMINCK. The Cinereous Eagle is more numerous than the preceding species, and is found in all the northern and mountainous maritime districts of Scotland and Ireland, and in the Orkney and Shetland Isles. It is also of a more roving disposition, and has frequently been killed in England. MONTAGUT mentions several instances, and adds, that scarcely a year passes without some of these birds being seen in the New Forest in Hampshire. In Northumberland, the Cinereous Eagle has frequently been seen during the winter months. About six years ago, a fine specimen was killed at Chillingham Park, the seat of the Earl of TANKERVILLE; and two more in the winter of the following year, and both of these were in the state indicating immaturity. They appear to have resorted to this place from a facility of obtaining food, which the weak and fallen deer in a hard season liberally present. In February 1828, two eagles of this species were killed upon the Northumbrian Coast; one near to Scremmerstone, and now in the possession of ROBERT WILKIE, Esq. of Ladythorn; the other at Holy Island, and now in my collection, having been kindly presented to me by JOHN DonaldSON, Esq. of Cheswick. They were both immature birds, apparently about two years and a half old, having undergone two moultings. The bird presented to me proved to be a * CUVIER, Reg. Anim. tom. i. p. 35.; and TEMMINCK, tom. i. p. 49. + MONTAGU, Ornith. Dict. Supplement, art. Cinereous Eagle. H |