[Birds, NATURAL HISTORY OF ORKNEY. 31 



CLASS II.-BIRDS. 



ORDER I. OR RAPACIOUS. 



GENUS I. THE FALCON^ 



Gen. Char. Bill hooked, covered at the base with a naked membrane, or cere ; 

 nostrils small, oval, placed in the cere ; tongue large, fleshy, and often cleft at 

 the end ; head and neck covered with feathers ; legs and feet scaly ; middle toe 

 connected from its first joint to that of the outmost by a strong membrane ; 

 claws large, much hooked, and very sharp ; that of the outmost toe the least. 



Species 1. Ringtail Eagle.* 



Golden Eagle, with a white ring about its tail, Wil. Orn. 59. Ran Syn. Av. 6. 

 White- tailed Eagle, Edw. 1. Fal. Fulvus, Lin. Sys. Ringtail Eagle, Brit. 

 Zool.So.Vol. I. p. 124. 



THE great characters which distinguish this from other 

 species of eagles are, a large broad band of white which en- 

 compasses the root of the tail ; the legs, which are feathered 



* In Orkney all Eagles are called Earnes. 



