42 U. 8. p. R. R. EXP. AND SURVEYS — ZOOLOGY — GENERAL REPORT. 



IIALIAETUS, Savigny. 



IJaliathis, Savignt, Hist. N.it. d'E^rypt, I, p. 85, (1809.) 



Size large ; tarsi shurt, naked, or feathered for a short distance be'ow the joint of the tibia and tarsus, and with the toes 

 covered wilii scales ; toes rather long ; claws very strong, curved, very sliarp. Kill large, ve- y strong, cnniprcssed ; innrginof 

 upper niandil>le slightly lobeii ; wings loi g, pointed ; tail moderate. General form very robust and powerful ; flight very 

 rapid and long coutiimed. 



This genus contains ten or twelve species only, inhabiting various parts of the world, all of 

 which subsist more or less on fishes, and are designated fishing or sea eagles. 



HALTAETUS PELAGICUS, Pallas. 



The Northern Sea Eagle. 



.Iquila pelttgictt, Pall. Zoog. Ross. As. I, p. 343, (1811.) 

 Falco imperator, Kittlitz, Kupf. N.-it. Vog. I, p. 3, (1832.) 

 Falco leucoplerus, Temm. PI. Col. 1, (not paged.) 



Figures.— Temm. PI. Col. I, pi. 489 ; Cassin E. of Cal. and Texas 1, pl. 6. 



The largest of all the eagles. Wings rather shorter than usual in this genus ; tail wedge shaped, and containing fourteen 

 feathers ^dult. — Large frontal space ; greater wing coverts ; abdomen and tail white. All other parts of the plumage dark 

 brown, or brownish black ; hill and legs yellow. 



Younger. — Tail white, more or less marked with brownish black ; quills black ; secondaries and tertiaries white at their bases ; 

 bill and feet yellow. All other parts dull brownish black, lighter on the head and neck. 



Total length, female, about 4.5 inches, wing 26 inches, tail 16 inches. 



Hail. — Russian American islands, (Pallas,) Japan, (Temminck &. Schlegel.) Spec, in Mus. Acad., Philadelphia. 



The largest of the eagles. This enormous and powerful bird inhabits the Russian American 

 islands and the coasts of the two continents at Behring's straits, and very probably extends its 

 range southward. It is strictly a fishing eagle, mainly deriving its subsistance from the sea, 

 but occasionally capturing birds and quadrupeds. It is stated by Pallas to rear its young in 

 northeastern Asia. 



HALIAETUS WASHINGTONII, Audubon. 



The Washington Eagle. 



Falco yVashinglonii , Add. Orn. Biog. I, 58, (1831.) 



Falco Wasldngtoniana, Aon. Loudon's Mag. I, p. 115, (1828.) 



Figures — Aud. B. of Am. pl. 11, (published 1827,) Oct. ed. I, pl. 13. 



Rather larger than //. leucocephalus ; bill shorter, and more abruptly curved j wings long. Entire plumage dark brown, 

 mixed with dull fulvous ; quills nearly black ; tail dark brown, more or less mottled with white, especially at the base. Bill 

 dark ; tarsi yellow. 



Total length about 43 inches, wing 32, tail 15 inches. " Extent of wings 10 feet 2 inches," (Audubon.) 



Ilab. — Kentucky. Throughout North America? Spec, in Mus. Acad., Philad..' 



This eagle is stated by Mr. Audubon to have been discovered by himself in Kentucky, and a 

 figure of the first, and apparently the only, specimen that ever came into his postession is given 

 in his plate, cited above. In t^iis figure the transverse scales on tlie front of the tarsi are repre- 

 sented in a manner which has never been observed since in any Norlh American cngle. 'Ihese 

 are continued (in tlie jihite alluded to) without interruption to the toes — a character quite 

 uniiNual in any rapacious bird. 



There are, however, very probably two R])ccie8 of wliite headed eagles inhabiting North 

 America, one of which is, we suspect, the bird now under consideration. The larger has the 



