178 WHITE-TAILED EAGLE. 



excitement or irritation, and the tint here is 

 remarkably clear, appearing at a distance, when 

 shone on by the sun, almost white ; the quills are 

 blackish brown, with a purplish tinge, and have 

 the shafts pale ; the upper tail coverts and tail 

 are pure white, and in all the attitudes of the 

 bird are conspicuously seen. This mark of per- 

 fect plumage is considered to be completed about 

 the third moult, but the female above alluded to 

 had not a perfectly pure tail at the age of five 

 years, the outer feathers retaining a considerable 

 portion of the brown mottling, which is seen in 

 the second year's plumage. Now, at the age of 

 i>even years, the tail is unsullied ; the bill and cere 

 are straw yellow, the latter of a darker, rather 

 greener tint ; the iris is remarkably beautiful, of 

 a pale grayish honey yellow, very brilliant and 

 expressive. 



The plumage of the young bird, or Cinereous 

 Eagle of authors, is generally of an umber brown, 

 of a grayer tint beneath, the feathers tipped with 

 a paler shade, and often white at the base ; the 

 tail is mottled with pale brownish white and clove 

 brown, and with the successive moults the pro- 

 portion of pale colour increases, prevailing most 

 at the base and centre of the tail ; the colour of 

 the bill is less clear, more mixed with green, and 

 the iris is pale chestnut brown, but of a clear 

 expression. The form of this species is less com- 



