WHITE-TAILED EAGLE. > | 



s albicillu, CVMTMM *<, /;,,/,., SKLBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. ,,. i;;. 



M #0fe, JKNYNS, Brit. Vert. An. p. 80. 



IMiaittus Sea En,,!,; GOULD, Birds of Europe, pt. ix. 



fako " Aiglepygatyue, TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i. p. 49. 



HALLEETUS. 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 Innated 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 or- 

 nithological 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 

 the Transactions of the Natural History Society of New- 



