Sea-Eagle. RAPTORES. HALI^ETUS. 23 



Bill bluish-black, paler towards the base. Cere wax-yel- 

 low. Irides pale chesnut-brown. Head and neck dark- 

 brown, the tips of the feathers rather paler, the roots 

 white. Upper parts reddish-brown, the feathers paler 

 towards the base, and having the whole of their shafts 

 dark. Under parts brown, of different shades, inter- 

 mixed with a few white feathers. Quills brownish- 

 black. Tail marbled with shades of hair and clove- 

 brown, and darkest towards the end. 



Genus PANDION, Saviq. OSPREY. 



GENERIC CHARACTERS. 



Bill rather short, strong, the culmen rounded, and 

 broad ; tomia of the upper mandible nearly straight, as far 

 as the hooked tip. Nostrils oblong-oval, slightly oblique, 

 and extending nearly the whole length of the cere. Wings 

 long ; the second and third quill-feathers the longest in each 

 wing. Legs muscular and strong ; the tarsi short, and co- 

 vered with prominent retrinulated scales. Feet having the 

 toes free, and nearly of equal length ; the outer toe reversible, 

 and all of them armed with strong, much curved, and very 

 sharp claws, of which the under part is rounded. Claw of 

 the exterior toe longer than that of the middle and inner 

 ones. Under surface of the toes very rough, with small 

 sharp-pointed scales. 



The rounded under surface of the claws of this group is 

 of itself a sufficient characteristic to separate it from the pre- 

 ceding, and other nearly allied genera ; but in addition, they 

 possess other distinctions in the form of the bill and legs, as 

 well as in habits and general economy, of consequence enough 

 to warrant such a removal. The Common Osprey {^Falco 

 HaUteetus, Linn.) stands as the type of the present genus, 

 which contains two or three other species, one of which Pand. 

 IcthycBetus of Dr Horsfield, approximates, in some respects, 

 very closely to the genus Haliaeetus, and forms the link of 



