36 ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS. 



white : this is the Falco albicaudus of Gmelin, tlie 

 Petit Pygargue of BufFon, and the Lesser White-tailed 

 Eagle of Latham. When it has attained its fifth year 

 the change may be regarded as complete : the head 

 and neck have little of the brown tinge remaining; 

 the back is throughout of a dusky brown intermixed 

 with ashy gray ; and the tail is perfectly white. It 

 has now arrived at its mature state, in which it has 

 been described and figured as the Falco albicilla, the 

 Grand Pygargue, and the White-tailed or Cinereous 

 Eagle. In all its stages the cere and naked parts of 

 the legs are yellow ; the under part of the body is of 

 a lighter hue than the upper, and more thickly inter- 

 spersed with pale cinereous spots ; and the claws are 

 completely black. 



The Great Sea-Eagle is an inhabitant of nearly the 

 whole of Europe and of Northern Asia. It sometimes 

 builds its nests in the clefts of rocks, but more fre- 

 quently on the summit of some lofty tree. The female 

 lays two eggs, about the same size and shape as those 

 of a goose. The young are fed with fish or flesh until 

 they are able to quit the nest, when they sally forth 

 with their parents in quest of their own prey, and 

 speedily assume an independent mode of life. 



