THE EAGLE. 



PLATE XXXI. 



Class Aves. Order L Rapaces. Genus Aquila. 



THE Golen Eagle is the largest and the noblest of all those 

 birds that have received the name of Eagle. It weighs above 

 twelve pounds. Its length is three feet the extent of its 

 wings, seven feet four inches ; the bill is three inches long, 

 and of a deep blue color ; and the eye of a hazel color. The 

 sight and sense of smelling are very acute. The -head and 

 neck are clothed with narrow sharp-pointed feathers, and of a 

 deep brown color, bordered with tawny ; but those on the 

 crown of the head, in very old birds, .turn gray. The whole 

 body, above as well as beneath, is of a dark brown ; and the 

 feathers of the back are finely clouded with a deeper shade of 

 the same. The wings, when clothed, reach to the end of the 

 tail. The quill-feathers are of a chocolate color, the shafts 

 white. The tail is of a deep brown, irregularly barred and 

 blotched with an obscure ash-color, and usually white at the 

 roots of the feathers. The legs are yellow, short, and very 

 strong, being three inches in circumference, and feathered to 

 the very feet. The toes are covered with large scales, and 

 armed with the most formidable claws, the middle of which 

 are two inches long. 



In the rear of this terrible bird follow the ring-tailed eagle, 

 the common eagle, the bald eagle, the white eagle, the kough- 

 footed eagle, the erne, the black eagle, the osprey, the sea 

 eagle, and the crowned eagle. These, and others that might 

 be added, form different shades in this fierce family ; but 

 have all the same rapacity, the same general form, the 

 same habits, and the same manner of bringing up their young. 



In general, these birds are found in mountainous and ill- 

 peopled countries, and breed among the highest cliffs. They 

 choose those places which are remotest from man, upon 



