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GENUS AQUIL A — BRISSON, 



EAGLE. 



[Bill very robust, angular above ; tarsi feathered to the toes j feet 

 Very stout — middle toe longest, connected at base by a membrane.] 



AQUILA CHRYSAETOS— LINN. 

 GOLDEN EAGLE. 



Ring-tailed Eagle. Falco fulvus, Wils. Amer. Orn. 



Royal or Golden Eagle, Nutt. Man. 



Golden Eagle, Falco chrysaetos, Aud. Orn. Biog. 



Specific Character — Tarsi feathered to the toes. Adult with the 

 bill bluish-gray ; cere yellow ; iris hair -brown ; general color of 

 plumage dark brown, glossed with purple ; occiput, hind part and 

 sides of the neck light brownish-yellow ; wing-coverts light brown ; 

 primary quills brownish-black; tail rounded, the feathers dark 

 brown, irregularly marked with dull white ; lower tail-coverts light 

 yellowish-brown, as are the feathers which cover the tibia and 

 tarsi ; feet yellowish ; claws black. Young with the tail at the 

 base white, which color continues about three-fourths its length. 

 Length of male two feet six inches, wing twenty-five inches. 

 Female six inches longer. 



The finest specimen of this noble bird which I ever saw, was 

 shot in the township of Islip, Long Island, and is now contained 

 in the collection of the late H. C. De Rham. With us it is exceed- 

 ingly rare, and it is not common in any part of the United States. 

 Occasionally it is observed in the neighborhood of Niagara Falls. 

 A few are distributed over our Western territory, and the specimen 

 from which Wilson's figure and description were taken, was an 

 immature bird shot in the county of Montgomery, Pennsylvania. 



