FALCON I D.. 



FALCONin<. 



roa 



rations hare bean made upon numerous individuals, many of them 

 placed for upward* of ten yean under the eye* of various scientific 

 olwerren : their accuracy may therefore be regarded a* unquestionable. 

 The remainder of the plumage in thin itate ! of a deep brown, 

 approaching to black, and strongly contrasted with the head and tail 

 The colour of the legs, feet, and talons remain* nearly the same ; but 

 the iru generally continues to assume a lighter and a lighter hue. 

 The rye*, it should be observed, are deeply sunk in the head, and 

 inntita'l of being placed in a line parallel with that of the cheeks, 

 are directed forwards, so as to form with them a considerable 



We have already given an account of the robberies committed by 

 the Bald Eagle on the osprey ; but its acts of plunder are not confined 

 to that bird, for it will rob the vulture*, and even in hard times make 

 them disgorge their carrion to satiate its appetite. According to 

 Audubon it will strike down a swan nnd other aquatic birds, and 

 now and then procure fish for itself by pursuing them in shallow 

 creeks ; it also devours young pig*, lambs, fawns, and putrid flesh of 

 every description. Niagara is one of its favourite haunts, where, it 

 watches for the swollen carcasses that the cataract has precipitated 

 down the falls. Wilson saw one seated on a dead hone, keeping a 

 whole flock of vultures at a distance till it had satisfied itself; and 

 on another occasion, when many thousands of tree-squirrels had been 

 drowned in their migration across the Ohio, and had collected hosts 

 of vultures, the sudden appearance of a Bald Eagle sent them all off, 

 and the eagle kept sole possession for many days. 



Benjamin Franklin thus speaks of this emblem of the United 

 States of America : " For my part, I wish the Bnld Kngle had not 

 been chosen as the representative of our country. He is a bird of bad 

 moral character ; he does not get his living honestly. You may have 

 seen him perched on some dead tree, where, too lazy to fish for himself, 

 he watches the labours of the fishing-hawk ; and when that diligent 

 bird has at length token a fish, and is bearing it to his nest for the 

 support of his mate and young ones, the Bald Eagle pursues him and 

 takes it from him. With all this injustice, he is never in good case, 

 but, like those among men who lire by sharping and robbing, he is 

 generally poor, and often very lousy. Besides, he is a rank coward : 

 the little King-Bird, not bigger than a sparrow, attacks him boldly, 

 and drives him out of the district. He is therefore by no means a 

 proper emblem for the brave and honest Cincinnati of America, who 

 have driven all the King-Birds from our country ; though exactly 

 fit for that order of knights which the French call Chevaliera 

 d'Industrie." 



With regard to its reproduction, M. Audubon says that incubation 

 commences in the beginning of January. He shot a female on the 

 17th of that month, as she sat on her eggs, in which the cbicks had 

 made great progress. " The nest," says that author, " which in some 

 instances is of great size, is usually placed on a very tall tree, destitute 

 of branches to a considerable height, but by no means always a dead 

 one. It is never seen on rocks. It is composed of sticks from three 

 to five feet in length, large pieces of turf, rank weeds, and Spanish 

 moss in abundance, whenever that substance happens to be -near. 

 When finished, it measures from five to six feet in diameter, and so 

 great is the accumulation of materials, that it sometimes measures 

 the same in depth, it being occupied for a great number of years in 

 succession, and receiving some augmentation each season. When 

 placed in a naked tree, between the forks of the branches, it is conspi 

 ciiously seen at a great distance. The eggs, which are from two to 

 four, more commonly two or three, are of a dull white colour, and 

 equally rounded at both ends, some of them being occasionally 

 granulated. Incubation lasts for more than three weeks, but I have 

 not been able to ascertain its precise duration, as I have observed the 

 female on different occasions sit for a few days in the nest before 

 laying the first egg. Of this I assured myself by climbing to the 

 neat every day in succession, during her temporary absence. 1 ' 

 (' Ornithological Biography,' vol. i.) 



This bird is found in every part of the United States of America, 

 seldom appearing, according to Audubon, in very mountainous 

 district*, but preferring the low lands of the sea-shores, those of the 

 larger lakes, and the borders of rivers. Mr. Bennett remarks, that 

 the White-Headed Eagle is usually spoken of as inhabiting the 

 northern part* both of the old and new continent; but that it upi". -in- 

 to be only a rare and occasional visitant of the former. It is probable, 

 he adds, that some of the varieties of the Common Sea-Eagle of this 

 quarter of the globe have been frequently mistaken for it, and remarks, 

 that throughout nearly the whole of North America, on the contrary, 

 where the European species seems to be unknown, it is met with in 

 great abundance. Sir John Hi. Imrdson says that it is the earliest ol 

 the summer visiters to the Fur Count rim, and the period of its arrival 

 has given the name of Meekeesbew Espeeshim, or Eagle-Moon. I .. ill. 

 month of March. " Temminck," lays Sir John (' Fauna Boreali- 

 Amcricana'), "assigns for its habitual residence the regions within the 

 Arctic Circle ; and Wilson observes, that it is found at all seasons in 

 the countries it inhabits. Both these assertions however mjnirr, I 

 apprehend, to be tnken with considerable latitude W.. did not, on 

 the late expedition*, meet with it to the north of the Oreat Slave 

 Lake (2 N. 1st.), although it is common in tlic summer, in tlie 

 country extending from thence to Lake Superior, and its breeding- 



ilaces in the Utter district are numerous. But in the month of 

 X-tober, when the riven from which it dnws its principal supply of 

 'ood are frozen over, it entirely quits the Hudson's Bay lands ; and 

 if, after that period, it is to be seen in the northern regions, it can 

 only be on the sea-coast, and for a limited time, while the sea continues 

 unfrozen. . . . It is known to breed as far south a* Virginia, but 

 its nests do not appear to be so common within any part of the I 

 States as they are in the Fur Countries." The bird is not mentioned 

 in the ' Supplement' to Sir W. H. I'arry's 'First Voyage,' nor in that 

 to Sir John ROM'S ' Last Voyage.' 



This bird is the Meekeeshew (name for the species), Wapustiquan- 

 Meekeeshew (White-Headed Eagle mature bird), Appiak-Meekeeshew 

 (Black-Headed Eagle immature bird), and Meekeeseesecsh (yearling 

 birds) of the Cree Indians. 



Colonel Sykes notes among the birds of Dukhun (Deccan) Haliteetta 

 Ponticerianut, Falco 1'untiecriantu of Latham, Bruhmuuy Kite of the 

 Europeans in India. The colonel says that it is seen con*- 1 

 passing up and down riven at a considerable height, but prepiu 

 fall at an instant on its prey. Usually it seizes while on the wing, 

 but occasionally dips entirely under water, appearing to rise again 

 with difficulty. It is quite a mistake, he adds, to suppose it feeds on 

 carrion. On the examination of the stomach and craw of many 

 specimens, the contents were found to be fish, and fish only, exv 

 on one occasion, when a crab was met with. (' ZooL Proo.,' 183i) 



Leaving the Fishing Eagles, Mr. Vigon proceeds to 



Circaetut (Vieillot). Beak convex above ; nostrils lunulate, trans- 

 verse ; cere subhispid ; tarsi elongated, naked ; acrotarsia reticulated ; 

 toes short, the external toe connected with the middle one at the 

 base ; claws short, subequal. This genus is founded upon the well- 

 known Jean de Blanc of the European continent, Palco brachydactytiu 

 of Wolff, P. (JaUicut of Gmelin, Aquilotto of the Italians. Here 

 Mr. Vigors observes, we find the exterior toe united to the middl.- l>y 

 a short membrane, which is the case indeed in the greater portion 

 of the family, while in the two latter genera the toes are all divided 

 to the origin. 



C. brachydactylut is, according to Temminck, the Falco troct|ld*W- 

 tylia of Wolff; the A quila lm of Meyer; Falco Gallic** o( 



Qmelin ; F. leucojau of Bechstein ; Aquilit f. .-<n/.Ania, 'Borkh. 

 Dcut Orn.' ; Le Jean le Blanc of Button and the Fivnrh u-i-nfrnlly ; 

 Aigle Jean le Blanc of Temminck ; Falco Terzo d'Aquila, ' Stor. dog 

 Ucc.'; and Kurzzehiger-Adler of M 



lfp.nl anrt foot of Cirrttflni trac/iydactyli 



