234 HALIAETUS ALBICILLA. 



Young. — The descriptions generally given of the young of 

 this bird seem to me to be hypothetical rather than derived 

 from strict observation. I have been very fortunate however 

 in obtaining in the autumn of 1839 an individual not quite 

 fledged, the quills and tail-feathers not having attained their 

 full length. The down on all parts is light-grey, on the legs 

 intermixed with slender white tufts. The bill is brownish- 

 black, the base of the lower mandible yellow, the cere green- 

 ish-yellow ; the feet yellow, the claws black. The bases of 

 all the feathers are brownish-white, their middle parts light 

 reddish-brown, their tips only blackish-brown. The head and 

 nape are dark brown, each feather with a minute brownish- 

 wdiite spot on the tip. On the middle of the back and on the 

 wings light reddish-brown is the prevalent colour, the black 

 tips of comparatively small extent ; on the hind part of the 

 back there is much white, that colour extending farther from 

 the base. The quills and larger w^ing-coverts are blackish- 

 brown, with a tinge of grey ; the tail-feathers brownish- white 

 in the centre, black toward the margins, with irregular white 

 dots. The lower parts are of the same colours as the back, or 

 are pale reddish -brown, marked with longitudinal streaks and 

 spots of dark brown ; the lower wing-coverts brown, the tail- 

 coverts white, with light brown tips. 



Progress toward Maturity. — In the second year the young 

 exhibit little difference, being however of a darker tint on the 

 back and wings. An individual at this age has the bill brown- 

 ish-black, tinged with blue, its base and the cere greenish- 

 yellow ; the iris hazel-brown ; the feet gamboge, the claws 

 brownish-black. The head and nape are deep brown ; the 

 base of all the feathers on the upper parts is white ; on the 

 hind-neck and fore part of the back that colour, tinged with 

 yellowish-brown, prevails, a lanceolate or obovate deep brown 

 spot being on each feather toward the end ; on the middle 

 of the back the brown prevails, on the hind part white, and 

 the rump and upper tail-coverts are light-brown, tipped with 

 darker. The scapulars are dark-brown, with a purplish tinge ; 

 the wing-coverts dark-brown at the end, but most of the larger 

 pale-brown in the greater part of their extent ; the quills 



