70 HISTORY OF 



colour. The sight and sense of smelling are very 

 acute. The head and neck are clothed with nar- 

 row sharp pointed feathers, and of a deep brown 

 colour, bordered with tawny ; but those on the 

 crown of the head, in very old birds, turn grey. 

 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 colour, 

 the shafts white. The tail is of a deep brown, 

 irregularly barred and blotched with an obscure 

 ash colour, 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 for- 

 midable 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 rough-footed eagle, the erne, the 

 Hack 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 mountain- 

 ous and ill-peopled countries, and breed among 

 the loftiest cliffs. They choose those places 

 which are remotest from man, upon whose pos- 

 sessions they but seldom make their depredations, 



