40 



V E K T E li R ATA. 



l_£. iolj u C ic ' 



THE EOYAL EAGLE. 



The Royal Eagle or Golden Eagle, A. chrysaetos or A. fulvus, the Common Eagle of 



Europe, may be taken as the type of the 

 genus : it is mostly of an obscure, blackish- 

 brown color, the head and neck being of a 

 golden red, from -which it is named ; the tail 

 is deep gray, regularly barred, and terminated 

 with blackish-brown ; beak fawn color, iris 

 brown, cere and feet yellow ; the length 

 thirty-five to forty inches. It lays two to 

 three eggs, of a dirty white, with reddish 

 blotches ; the nest is made on the shelving 

 rocks of inaccessible mountain peaks, never 

 upon trees ; this is wide and. flat, and rudely 

 made of sticks and brambles, without lining. 

 There is a variety totally white ; this is the 

 Falco alius of Gmelin, or the White Eagle 

 of Brisson. The Ring-tailed Eagle, long sup- 

 posed to be a distinct species, is now^ known 

 to be a young Golden Eagle. 



FOOT OF THE ROYAL EAGLE. 



