THE GOLDEN EAGLE ; THE RING-TAILED EAGLE. 49 



Sub-Family AQUILINE. The Eagles. 



Size large, and all parts very strongly organized; bill large, compressed, straight 

 at base, curved and acute at tip; wings long, pointed; tail ample, generally rounded; 

 tarsi moderate, very strong ; claws curved, very sharp and strong. There are about 

 seventy species of eagles of all countries. 



AQUILA, MOEHRIXG. 



Aquila, MOEHRING, Av. Gen., 49 (1752). 



General form large and very strong, and adapted to long-continued and swift 

 flight; bill large, strong, compressed, and hooked at the tip; wings long, pointed; 

 tarsi rather short, very strong, feathered to the toes ; glaws sharp, strong, curved. 

 This genus includes about twenty species, which are regarded as the true eagles. 



AQUILA CANADENSIS. Cassin. 

 The Golden Eagle ; the Ring-tailed Eagle. 



Falco Canadensis, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. 125 (1766). 

 Falco niger, Gm. Syst. Nat, I. 259 (1788). 

 Aquila nobilis, Pallas. Zoog. Ross. As., I. 338 (1811). 

 Falco chryscefos, Wilson. Aud., II. 464. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Adult. Large ; tarsi densely feathered to the toes ; head and neck behind light 

 brownish-fulvous, varying in shade in different specimens, frequently light orange- 

 falvous, generally darker; tail at base white, which color frequently occupies the 

 greater part of the tail; other terminal portion glossy black; all other parts rich 

 purplish-brown, frequently very dark, and nearly clear black on the under parts of 

 the body; primaries shining black; secondaries purplish-brown; tibiae and tarsi 

 brownish-fulvous, generally mixed with dark-ashy; cere and toes yellow: iris 

 reddish-hazel. 



Younger. Entire plumage lighter, and mixed with dull-fulvous ; under parts of 

 the body nearly uniform with the upper parts ; cere, toes, and iris like adult. 



Total length, female, thirty-three to forty inches; wing, about twenty-five; tail, 

 about fifteen inches. Male, total length, thirty to thirty-five inches ; wing, twenty 

 to twenty-three: tail, twelve to fourteen inches. 



The above description is incomplete, so far as the markings of the tail are men 

 tioned; for in the adult bird the tail is entirely black, and the young have more or 

 less white in proportion to their age, the youngest birds having the widest white 

 band at the base. 



This bird is so extremely rare in New England, that I 

 have had no opportunities for studying its habits. It is 

 occasionally found here in different seasons of the year, 



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