238 The Falcon-like Birds 



differences of opinion among ornithologists on this point. As the Fishing Eagles 

 have a partially reversible outer toe, they have been placed with the Ospreys, but 

 anatomically they agree with the Eagles, and, moreover, the feathers have an after- 

 shaft, which the feathers of the Ospreys do not. It seems safe to say that they 

 are at most only distantly related to the Ospreys, but the exact position they 

 shall occupy is perhaps open to question. They are smaller than most of the 

 Sea Eagles, ranging from twenty-four to some twenty-nine inches in length, and 

 have a shorter bill but similar oval nostrils. The wings are rounded, the fourth 

 and fifth quills longest, and the tail of moderate length and slightly rounded. 

 The feathering of the tarsus is also similar, though the scales on the naked 

 portion are larger, and the claws stronger and much curved. The plumage is 

 mainly brown above, becoming ashy or ashy gray on the head and neck, while 

 the breast is ashy and the abdomen and under tail-coverts white, as is the basal 

 portion of most of the tail-feathers. They are mainly inland birds, preferring 

 wooded rivers and lakes to the sea coast, and have, it is said, a " peculiar deep 

 resounding call, repeated three or four times." They live chiefly on fish, which 

 they swoop upon in their flight, not pouncing down upon them like an Osprey, 

 and they may occasionally take a wounded bird. The nest is a very bulky 

 structure of sticks and usually placed in a high tree, while the eggs, two or three 

 in number, are white and unspotted. The Oriental or Gray-headed Fishing 

 Eagle (P. ichthyaetus) is widely distributed over the Indian peninsula, Ceylon, 

 and through the Malay Peninsula to the Celebes and Philippines, while Hogd- 

 son's Fishing Eagle (P. humilis} ranges through the Burmese Provinces, Malay 

 Peninsula, Sunda Islands, and Philippines. A recently described species is 

 found from the Himalayan districts to Assam. 



The True Eagles. (Subfamily Aquttina.) It is perhaps unnecessary to 

 state that the Eagles form a large group of magnificent, usually large, power- 

 ful birds of practically cosmopolitan distribution. They are comprised in sev- 

 eral genera and forty or more species, and naturally the genus giving name to 

 the subfamily is taken as typical. In the genus Aquila the bill is strong and 

 curved from the vicinity of the cere. The wings are long, with the fourth and 

 fifth quill longest, while the tail is of moderate length and slightly rounded or 

 nearly even; the tarsus is feathered to the toes, thus differing from the Sea 

 Eagles, and the toes are strong and provided with strongly curved, very large 

 and sharp claws. 



Golden Eagle. We may appropriately begin the consideration of this 

 group with the Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetus}, which is found in North America 

 as far south as Mexico, and also in various parts of Europe and northern Asia, 

 whence it ranges to northern Africa and China. The male is from thirty to 

 thirty-five inches in length and has an extent of wings of between six and one- 

 half and seven feet, while the female is four or five inches longer and has a spread 

 of wings of between seven and seven and one-half feet. In color the Golden 

 Eagle is a nearly uniform dark brown, with the lanceolate feathers of the hind- 

 neck and the feathers of the tarsus of a paler or more tawny hue, while the tail 

 and quills are black, the former being more or less clouded or irregularly banded 



