134 FALCONID^ : HAWKS. 



case in point. North America, common ; piscivorous ; a pirati- 

 cal parasite of the osprey ; otherwise notorious as the emblem of 

 the Republic. From the circumstance that several years (at 

 least three) are required for the gaining of the perfect plumage, 

 when the head and tail are entirely white, it follows that " Gray 

 Eagles " and " Birds of Washington " are the more frequently 

 met with. Those who, unpractised in ornithology, may be 

 puzzled by accounts of numerous different kinds of Eagles, may 

 be relieved to know that only two species have ever been found in 

 the United States. In any plumage they may instantly be 

 recognized by the legs — feathered to the toes in Aquila chry- 

 saehis, naked on the whole shank in Haliaetus leucocephahis. 



The Bald Eagle appears to have decreased in numbers 

 of late years, to judge by comparison of earlier with 

 more recent notices of its occurrence. Still it is to be 

 called no uncommon bird, of general dispersion along 

 the coast and the larger water courses, nesting wherever 

 a convenient site for its eyrie can be found in places 

 sufficiently secluded to give the bird a sense of security. 

 The nest is commonly built in a tree — a huge affair, 

 doubtless the largest structure of the kind to be found 

 high in trees in our country, unless some of the 

 augmented fabrics of the Fish Hawk should exceed it in 

 bulk. The eggs are easily recognized by their size, and 

 lack of the spotting usually observed on those of diurnal 

 Raptores. They are commonly two in number, about 

 three inches in length, by a scant two-and-a-half inches 

 in breadth, and of a dull soiled white color. 



