26 FALCONIDJ2. 



Aquila albicilla, The Erne, FLEM. Brit. An. p. 53. 



HalicK'etus Cinereous Sea Eagle, SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 18. 



Aquila Eagle, JENYNS, Brit. Vert, An. p. 80. 



Haliceetus Sea Eagle, GOULD, Birds of Europe. 



Falco Aigle pygargue, TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i.p. 49. 



HALIJBETUS. Generic Characters. Beak elongated, strong, straight at 

 the base, curving in a regular arc in advance of the cere to the tip, and 

 forming a deep hook. The upper ridge broad and rather flattened. Edges 

 of the upper mandible slightly prominent behind the commencement of 

 the hook. Nostrils large, transversely placed in the cere, and of a lunated 

 shape. Wings ample ; the fourth quill-feather the longest. Legs having 

 the tarsi half-feathered ; the front of the naked part scutellated, and the 

 sides and back reticulated. Toes divided to their origin ; the outer one 

 versatile. Claws strong and hooked, grooved beneath ; the claw of the 

 hind toe larger than that of the inner, which again exceeds that of the 

 middle and outer toes. 



MR. SELBY considers the White-tailed Eagle as gene- 

 rically distinct from the Golden Eagle ; and the generic 

 characters attributed to it by that gentleman in his orni- 

 thological work are therefore inserted here. Other dis- 

 tinguished naturalists have stated the same opinion. In 

 the greater length of its beak, in being less particular in 

 the nature and quality of its food, in its more sluggish 

 habits and comparative want of courage, it has some re- 

 semblance to the Vultures. 



As a species, it is much more common than the Golden 

 Eagle, and on some parts of the coast may be seen fre- 

 quently. It inhabits the high rocks and cliffs that over- 

 hang the sea, from whence it keeps a look-out, and when 

 hungry is equally ready to seize either fowl or fish, and 

 has been seen to attack and feed on seals. It also evinces 

 a great partiality for fawns and venison, being occasionally 

 killed in deer-parks and forests. Epping Forest, near 

 London, and the New Forest, in Hampshire, are recorded 

 as localities in which it has been shot in the latter in 

 several successive years ; and Mr. Selby, in his Catalogue 

 of the Birds of Northumberland and Durham, printed in 



