78 



WHITE-HEADED EAGLE. 



Falco leucocephalus. F. cera lutea pedibusque semilanatis, 

 corporefusco, capite caudaque albis. Lin. Syst. Nat. 



Brown Eagle, with white head and tail, half-feathered legs, 

 and yellow cere and feet. 



Bald Eagle. Catesby Carol. 1 . pL 1 . 



Length three feet three inches. Colour dark 

 brown, except the head and tail, which are white: 

 the bird however does not acquire the white head 

 till the second year. It is a bird of great spirit ; 

 preying on fawns, lambs, fish, &c. " It is, says Mr. 

 Pennant, the terror of the Osprey, whose motions 

 it watches. The moment the latter has seized a 

 fish, the former pursues till the Osprey drops its 

 prey, which, with amazing dexterity, it catches 

 before it falls to the ground, be the distance ever 

 so great. This is matter of great amusement to 

 the inhabitants of North America, who often 

 watch their aerial contests." 



According to Catesby this Eagle builds in vast 

 decayed cypresses or pines, impending over the 

 sea, or some great river, in company with Ospreys, 

 Herons, and other birds, and the nests are so nu- 

 merous as to resemble a rookery. Lawson, in his 

 History of Carolina, says that it breeds very often, 

 laying again under the callow young, whose warmth 

 hatches the eggs. 



