70 BIRDS OF PREY. 



That this bird is not the White-tailed Eagle {Falco 

 alhicilla), or its young, the Sea Eagle {F. ossifragus), is 

 obvious from the difference in size alone, the male of 

 that bird being little over 2 feet 4 inches in length, or a 

 little less even than the Bald Eagle. The female of the 

 Washington Eagle must, of course, be 6 or 8 inches 

 longer, which will give a bird of unparalleled magnitude 

 amongst the whole Eagle race. This measurement of 

 the Sea Eagle is obtained from ' Temminck's Manual of 

 Ornithology,' who has examined more than 50 individu- 

 als. At the same time I have a suspicion that the Wash- 

 ington Eagle, notwithstanding this, exists also in Europe ; 

 as the great Sea Eagle of Brisson is described by this au- 

 thor as being 3 feet 6 inches in length from the point of 

 the bill to the end of the tail, and the stretch of the 

 wings about 7 feet ! These measurements also are 

 adopted by Buffon, but the individuals were evidently in 

 young plumage, in which state, as described by Brisson, 

 they again approach the present species. Nor need it be 

 considered as surprising if 2 different species be con- 

 founded in the Sea Eagle of Europe, as the recently 

 established Imperial Eagle had ever been confounded 

 with the Golden. Another distinguishing trait of the 

 Washington Eagle is in the length of the tail, which is 

 1^ inches longer than the folded wings. In the White- 

 tailed species this part never extends beyond the wings. 



The upper parts of the body were generally, in the adult, describ- 

 ed by Audubon, of a dark, shining, coppery-brown. The throat, 

 front of the neck, breast, and belly, of a rich and bright cinnamon 

 color, the feathers of the whole of which were long, narrow, sharp- 

 pointed and of a somewhat hairy texture, each dashed along the cen- 

 tre with the dark brown of the back. Lesser wing-coverts rusty 

 iron-grey, the same color extending from the shoulders to the lower 

 end of the secondaries, and gradually passing into the brown of the 

 back as it meets the scapulars. Primaries brown, darker on their 



