364 



EAGLE. 



,long, convolute, and supplied with numerous lacteal 

 vessels, which differ little from those of man, except 

 in colour, which was transparent. The kidneys were 

 large, and seated on each side the vertebrae, near the 

 anus. They are also destined to secrete some offen- 

 sive principles from the blood. 



" The eggs were small and numerous, and, after a 

 careful examination, I concluded that no sensible 

 increase takes place in them till the particular season. 

 This may account for the unusual excitement which 

 prevails in these birds in the sexual intercourse. 

 Why there are so many eggs is a mystery. It is, 

 perhaps, consistent with natural law that everything 

 should be abundant ; but, from this bird, it is said no 

 more than two young are hatched in a season, conse- 

 quently no more eggs are wanted than a sufficiency to 

 produce that effect. Are the eggs numbered originally, 

 and is there no increase of number, but a gradual loss, 

 till all are deposited ? If so, the number may corre- 

 spond to the long life and vigorous health of this noble 

 bird. Why there are but two young in the season is 

 easily explained. Nature has been studiously parsi- 

 monious of her physical strength, from whence the 

 tribes of animals incapable to resist derive security 

 and confidence. 



" The eagle is said to live to a great age sixty, 

 eighty, and, as some assert, one hundred years. This 

 circumstance is remarkable, when we consider the 

 seeming intemperate habits of the bird sometimes 

 fasting, through necessity, for several days, and at 

 other times gorging itself with animal food till its 

 craw swells out the plumage of that part, forming a 

 large protuberance on the breast. This, however, is 

 its natural food, and for these habits its whole 

 organisation is particularly adapted. It has not, like 

 man, invented rich wines, ardent spirits, and a 

 thousand artificial poisons, in the form of soups, 

 sauces, and sweetmeats. Its food is simple, it in- 

 dulges freely, uses great exercise, breathes the purest 

 air, is healthy, vigorous, and long-lived. The lords of 

 the creation themselves might derive some useful 

 hints from these facts, were they not already, in 

 general, too wise or too proud to learn from their 

 inferiors, the fowls of the air and the beasts of the 

 field." 



As has been the case both with the golden and 

 the white-tailed eagle of the eastern continent, this 

 American species has, in consequence of the differ- 

 ence in colour between the young and the mature 

 birds, and the length of time which the former colour 

 lasts, been regarded and described as two species, the 

 ossifrage when young, and the white-headed eagle 

 when old. The confusion has been still farther 

 increased by the same name having been given to 

 the young of the sea-eagle of Europe ; and thus, 

 while two species have been multiplied into four, the 

 two proper ones have been confounded with each 

 other. Indeed, we are still in want of information 

 respecting the birds of prey in that part of North 

 America, especially, which lies between the valley of 

 the Mississippi and the Rocky Mountains. 



THE OSPIIEY (Aquila halueta}. This is the proper 

 fishing-eagle of the European shores, and also the 

 fishing-hawk of America, which is so well described 

 by Wilson. It has also been described as a buzzard, 

 and named the bald buzzard, from the white upon 

 the head. It is smaller than the eagles which we 

 have described in the former part of this article, arid 

 it is also much more aquatic in its habits, but still its 



general characters are those of an eagle, and its size 

 and strength, though the latter is by no means so 

 efficient on land as many of the hawks and falcons, 

 entitle it to the same epithet. 



The length of the osprey is about two feet, and the 

 extent of its wings not less than five feet and a half, 

 so that it is better winged in proportion than even 

 the most powerful of the falcons, and may rank 

 among the most aerial of all the birds of prey. The 

 beak of this bird is powerfully formed, very much 

 bent at the tip, furnished with a rudiment of a tooth, 

 and of that dark colour which is always an indication 

 of strength in this order of birds. The tarsi are, like 

 those of the true eagles, very short and strong, but, 

 instead of being feathered as in these, they are 

 covered with reticulated scales, and thus bear some 

 resemblance to those of the wading birds. The claws 

 are very large, more especially that on the outer toe, 

 which is reversible. They are, however, w ithout any 

 ridges or grooves on their under sides, and thus they 

 are clutching claws, and not tearing ones. 



The cere, the tarsi, and the toes of the osprey, are 

 greyish blue, the under parts of the toes being abun- 

 dantly furnished with pads or tubercles. The irides 

 are yellow. The prevailing colour on the upper part 

 is blackish brown, with the exception of the nind part 

 of the 1 head, and part of the neck, which is whitish. A 

 streak of deep brown passes down each side of the 

 neck ; and the chin and fore part of the neck are 

 streaked with the same colour, passing into lighter on 

 the breast. The rest of the under part is dull white, 

 passing into pale grey on the vent and tail. The 

 coverts are pale brown, and the quills darker ; some- 

 times relieved with a paler tint on the margins of the 

 feathers, but never possessing any of the rich and 

 warm browns of the land eagles. Three feathers in 

 the middle of the tail are brown, and all the others 

 have white bare on their inner webs. The outer tail- 

 feathers, and first quills of the wings, have their webs 

 very narrow and exceedingly stiff, so that they can- 

 not be ruffled but with the greatest difficulty. The 

 under sides of the wings, and the whole of their mar- 

 ginal parts, as also the plumage on the under parts of 

 the body, are remarkably close and compact, and do 

 not suffer the least injury by being immersed in water. 

 The thighs are feathered down to the articulations of 

 the tarsi ; their colour is pure white ; but the feathers 

 bear more resemblance to the hair of aquatic animals, 

 than to the feathers of ordinary birds. The young 

 birds have their colours more broken than the old 

 ones ; and in very mature age the colours may be 

 stated as being uniform brown on all the upper part 

 except the head, and white on the under part. 



In the places which it frequents, this bird is, per- 

 haps, more on the wing than any of the other eagles, 

 but it is always found over the waters ; and so far as 

 is known, it commits no depredations on land. It 

 makes its nest in the crevices of rocks, or on the tops 

 of tall tree*, and occasionally on the ground among 

 reeds, laying from two to four white eggs, spotted 

 with reddish, rather smaller than those of the domes- 

 tic hen. Colonel Montagu once saw a nest belong- 

 ing to a pair of this species, on the top of a ruined 

 chimney on an island in Loch Lomond. It was large 

 and flat, formed of sticks laid across, lined with flags, 

 and resting on the sides of the chimney. From an 

 expression which occurs in some old acts of parlia- 

 ment, there is reason to believe that the bald buzzard 

 was once trained to fishing in England. It is now 



