^°I^¥'] SHUFELDT, Skeleton of U'cdge-taUca Baylc. 295 



On the Skeleton of the Wedge-tailed Eagle 

 (Uroaetus audax, Latham) 



By R. W. SHUFELDT, M.D.. C.M.Z.S., R.A.O.L'., Washing- 

 ton, D.C. 



At different times, and in various places, I have, during the 

 past thirty years, pubHshed accounts of the skeletons of a 

 number of extinct and existing eagles. With the exceplion of 

 Pithecophaga philippiensis, all of the species thus described and 

 illustrated have been North American ones ; and, while they 

 differ in not a few respects, it may be said that, in the main, the 

 osteological characters, as seen in all these typical aquiline 

 forms, vary but little. Osteologically, however, most eag'es have 

 some distinctive character or characters to distinguish them, such 

 as the great, transversely compressed beak of the ^lonkey-eating 

 species of the Philippines, and so on for others. 



Within the past year I have enjoyed the opportunity to study 

 the skeleton of the famous Wedge-tailed Eagle {Uroaetus 

 audax) of Australia and Tasmania. This has been made pos- 

 sible through the generosity and kindness of Captain S. A. 

 White, who some months ago sent me a skeleton from Adelaide, 

 and of the National Museum of Melbourne, which insritution 

 presented me with a beautifully prepared skeleton from its col- 

 lections. Both are skeletons of adult birds, and more or less 

 perfect in character. A short time after they came into my 

 possession, I made photographs of a variety of their bones, and 

 reproductions of those photographs are to be seen on the plates 

 accompanying the present account of the skeleton of this species. 



When about to commence work on the osteology' of this 

 famous Eagle, I was not aware that the subject had been touched 

 upon by any previous writer; so it was a surprise to me when 

 my friend, Mr. Henry K. Coale, of Highland Park, Chicago, 

 kindly presented me with a copy of the interesting and useful 

 little brochure entitled a "Memoir on the Wedge-tailed Eagle 

 {Uroaetus audax) (Latham), a Study in Avian Osteology" by 

 Mr. H. H. Scott. This appeared from the Launceston Museum 

 on November 18th, 1909. The remarkable part of this work is 

 that it appears to have been published by The Examiner Daily 

 and Weekly Courier, Illustrated, of Launceston, Tasmania. But 

 whether it appeared in that journal originally is a point upon 

 which I am not informed at this time. One thing is certain, 

 however, no American newspaper would for an instant think 

 of issuing such a print; we have not yet reached such ? phase 

 of advancement. However, it matters not whether the Examiner 

 published this neat little w^ork, or whether it only came off 

 their presses and was not a contribution to the paper; it is, ap- 

 parently, in some respects a useful addition to the literature of 

 the subject, and the facts and statements set forth in it will be 



