muus. tjl 



tei] with tasvny brown ; tlie tail featlicrs, on the outsidp and at 

 tlie extremity, brown ; on the inside, white, streaked with brown ; 

 legs naked. 



The eagle of Brasil : blackish brown; ash colour, mixed in 

 the wings; tail feathers white; legs naked. 



The Oroonoko eagle : \a ith a toj)ping ; above, blackish brown ; 

 helow, white, spotted s\ itli black ; upper neck yellow ; tail feii- 

 thers brown, with « bite circles j leg feathers white, spotted with 

 black. 



The crowned African eagle : with a topping ; the tail of an ash 

 colour, streaked on the upper side with black. 



The eagle of Pondichcrry : chestnut colour : the six outward 

 tail feathers black one half.* 



* To these may be added, a species of sea eagle, which M. Audubon has 

 failed the Bird of Washington, as being- the noblest of the genus known to 

 naturalists. The flight of tliis bird is very ditterent from that of the white- 

 headed eagle, encircling more diameter than the latter ; whilst sailing, keep- 

 ing nearer to tlie land and the surface of the water ; and when about to divo 

 for fish, falling in a circuitous spiral manner, as if with an intention of check, 

 ing all retreating movement which its prey might attempt, and only when 

 within a few yards darting- upon it. 'Ihe fish-hawk often does the same. 

 When rising with a fish they fly to a considerable distance, forming, in their 

 line (if course and that of the water a very acute angle, something not ex. 

 Deeding tliirty degrees, when several bundled yards distant from the spot 

 emerged from. 



The male bird weighs about 1 1^ lbs. avoirdupois, measures 3 ft. 7 in. in 

 length, and 10 ft. 2 in. in extent. The upper mandible 3| in., dark bluish 

 black. 



The Martial eagle, sometimes called the griffurd, is a large species dis. 

 covered in Africa by Le Vaillant. It inhabits the country of the great 

 Namaquois, between the twenty-eighth degree of south latitude and the 

 tropic, and probably exists in the other parts of Africa. Wlien perched, it 

 emits sharp and piercing cries, mixed with hoarse and lugubrious tones, 

 which are heard at a great distance. It flies, with the legs pendant, and, 

 like the common eagle, rises so high that it is lost siglxt of, though its cry is 

 Etill audible. Highly eourag-eous, it never sufters any great bird of rapine 

 to approach within its domain. It hunts gazelles and hares. 



The griffards, like the other eagles, are usually observed in couples, but 

 during the hatching time the male alone provides for the subsistence of the 

 family. The nest is formed between precipitous rocks, or on the summits 

 of lofty trees. Its basis is constituted like that of the other eagles' nests, 

 but it is covered witli a large quantity of small wood, moss, and roots, which 

 give it a thickness of about two feet. This bed is again covered with small 

 bits of dry wood, on which the female lays two eggs almost round, entirely 

 white, and more than three inches in diameter. 



The Balbuzxiird is pretty generally spread through France, Germany, 

 •nd most of the countries of Europe from north to south. It is also fouiiil 

 III. i' 



