294 HALIAETIDAE. 



rc.-ulily understand why tlicso noble Eagles have so long held their own; neither are they 

 in any present danger of being exterminated, for the sections which they inhabit, willlong- 

 remain unoccupied by man. I have, on several occasions, seen these fine birds circling 

 high in air over the mountains of Northern New England and Pennsylvania but I never 

 yet obtained a shot at one. Even the Indians considered it a notable feat to kill one of 

 this species and, a.s these birds are certainly no less wary today, he who shoots a Golden 

 Eagle may m;;.rk the da,te as an extra red-letter day in his calendar, resting assured that 

 he will not have occasion to repeat it many times, at least in our section. 



The Golden Eagles hunt along the mountain sides, catching Grouse, rabbits, etc. and 

 perching upon trees or high cliffs in order to devour their prey. Their nests are placed or 

 the rocky shelves of steep precipices, where it is almost impossible to reach them. Mr. 

 William Brewster in making some notes forme, some years ago, of the birds that occurred 

 on the White Mountains, says of this species, "A pair have bred for years on a cliff, di- 

 rectly over the Profile House. They could be seen at almost any hour in the day, scaling 

 aboat their eyrie, uttering loud screams, but were especially noisy and active from sunset 

 to dark". 



FAMILY VI. HALIAETIDAE. THE FISH EAGLES. 



The sternum considerably exceeds twice its width in length, but there are no marginal in- 

 dentations. 



The maiuibrium is quite well developed, abruptly truncated, and not forked. The 

 furcula is stout, much flattened by lateral expansion, wide and thick near the base which 

 is rouuiled and not produced into a point. The terminal expansion is not present, as in 

 the last family, nor is it produced as far forward, but extends backward beneath the bone; 

 the furcula near it is contracted but only slightly furrowed above and is bent downward to 

 a point quite near the manubrium. The posterior border is entire and produced backward 

 somewhat. The bill is stong, well-curved, with the cutting edge of upper mandible slight- 

 ly lobed. The tarsus is short, stout, and naked to the heel behind but is feathered in front 

 for about half its length. The toes are stout, with strong, well-curved claws, but differ 

 from those of the True Eagles in having but two bones in the inner toe, instead of three. 

 The wings are very long and pointed. The tail is quite long and considerably rounded. 



GENUS I. IIALIAETUS. THE SEA EAGLES. 



Gkn. Cn. StcTnum, nhout ai wide as it is hi<jh, including the keel. Keel, not reaching the posterior harder which is con- 

 siderably rounded 



The sterno-trac-healis i'; thick and there is a small bronehialis, but no other larj-ngeal mu«cles. Tlie trachea is a little 

 flattened throughout. The Oisophagus is dilated near the middle into quite a large crop, and the walls are very thin. The 

 pr:iv.-ntriculas is vory larg3, with quite small, simple, oval glands, arranged in a zonular band which measures from 2-00 

 to 2'25 in width, but in four pyramid-shaped ridges. The stomach is small, .somewhat globular in form, with very thin 

 walls, lined with a boft membrane. The fjld of the duodenum is very long, measuring T'OO. much twisted, and incloses a 

 small, irregularly fjrmed pancreas which only occupies a short portion of its entire length. Coeca, very small. Both lobes 

 of the liver are about equal in siz?, and the heart is large but not pointed. The spleen is an oval shaped body situated oE. 

 the proventricalus. 



