Mr. R. B. Sharpens Catalogue of Accipitres. 213 



inside of the thighs white ^, whilst, on the other hand, I have 

 examined five Old- World specimens which are characterized 

 by the white base of the tail, indicative of immaturity, but 

 which all have brown tarsi. As, however, they are none of 

 them nestling- birds, it is of course possible (though I hardly 

 think it probable) that the tarsi in these specimens may have 

 been originally white, as they undoubtedly are in the great 

 majoi^ity of young European examples, and may have become 

 brown previously to the white band having ceased to exist on 

 the base of the tail. The specimens to which I here refer are : — 

 one from Lapland and one from the Himalayas, both of which 

 are in the Norwich Museum ; and three in the British Mu- 

 seum, one of which is merely recorded as from India, a second 

 from Nepal, and the third from the Hazara district of the 

 Punjab, the last-named specimen having been brought up 

 from the nest by Captain W. H. Unwin, who has carefully 

 recorded its progress towards maturity in the P. Z. S. for 

 1874, p. 210. Captain Unwin speaks of this bird as having 

 originally had white down on the tarsi, but apparently not 

 white feathers ; this specimen was taken from the nest on the 

 13th of May, 1871, and died in the autumn of the following 

 year : the exact date of its death is not given by Captain 

 Unwin ; but I gather from his account that it was then about 

 sixteen months old. On the 1st of August, 1871, Captain 

 Unwin made the following note respecting this nestling : — 

 " Has grown a great deal during the past month, and has 

 everywhere assumed the dark brown plumage shown in his 

 mother, except on the inner and lower part of the thighs and 

 tarsi, where a good deal of white down remains uncovered ; 

 the head has assumed its full covering of lanceolate golden 

 chestnut feathers, and the same colour is apparent on the 

 shoulders and in front of the thigh-coverts ; it is everywhere 

 of a darker and richer shade than its mother, owing probably 



* Since the above was written Mr. Salvin lias been so good as to send 

 me the following memorandum respecting an immature Golden Eagle 

 from North America in the Cambridge Museum : — " It has the tarsi and 

 basal half of the tail of a dirty creamy white colour, the former being 

 much paler than in the adult bird." 



SER. IV. VOL. I. Q 



